A Stream Saga: Sean's Zero Transmission
by SoloWing
Summary: Stream spoilers. A neglected boy named Sean discoveres the power of Asteroid Navis. Hints of child abuse, nothing to really worry about.
1. Default Chapter

Harry the Met: Okay! HOLD IT RIGHT DERE! Place da keyboard on the ground, and step away!

Web: Can the drama, Harry.

Harry: Sorry, I've always wanted to say dat, and dis was da perfect opportunity.

Web: -eyerolls- Nevertheless, you have a point. Alright people, this is a fic set during RockMan.EXE Stream (the series after Axess) so if you're one of the multitude of people who are following onlythe dub (which would be about all of you come to think of it), don't expect this to make sense. You are strongly advised to turn back now because I'm not going to explain the Stream concept.

Harry: You have been warned.

Web: Anyways, as most of you know, Sean/Shun never appeared in the Anime. Well, this is an attempt to give Sean a place in the Anime storyline, so if you're still with me, enjoy!

Begin Chapter!

"I've got your doom!" SavageMan hauled back his arm, preparing to unleash his next attack.

"I've heard that one before." Lan's hand flashed down to his folder and ripped out his Synchro Chip. Within seconds, he had raised his PET Progress and had slotted the blue chip in. "Cross Fusion!"

SavageMan halted his attack, it would be pointless to attack while that pest was Cross Fusing with his Net Navi.

A shaft of light surrounded Lan, as his PET broke apart into pixels of data and began covering his body. Within seconds, MegaMan's armor had formed over his arms and legs, preparing him to enter the coming battle.

CF MegaMan clenched his fist as he across the roof towards his opponent. "Yeah, riiight."

"We'll just see about that!" SavageMan took to the assault, leaping forward and throwing his clawed arm forward.

A few short feet away, a small figure huddled behind a large air vent. The large foil structure rose straight up from the roof, obscuring the small boy hiding behind it from the view of the battlers.

"That's… MegaMan…" The figure whispered in amazement. "He's actually here…"

Unaware that he was being watched, CF MegaMan was busy taking out SavageMan. The Cross Fused Net Op ducked his head, allowing a clawed arm to swipe harmlessly over his head.

"Now, its my turn!" CF MegaMan clenched his fist, as a golden gauntlet materialized about his wrist. "Gold Fist, Battle Chip in!"

A scream escaped SavageMan, as his adversary's armored fist slammed into his face.

"Mega Cannon, Battle Chip in!" As the beast-like Navi recoiled from the blow, the Bomber brought his fast back. In response to his command, a light red blaster replaced his Gold Fist.

"Grr… Wild Rush!" The Neo WWW Navi snapped his arms forward, sending them flying through the air. A split second later, the beast had sent his head shooting forward at MegaMan.

CF MegaMan saw the move coming in plenty of time, and quickly took the necessary counter-measures.

"Life Aura, Battle Chip in!" No sooner had the words left his mouth, than a shimmering white dome appeared around the Bomber.

SavageMan's hands smashed into the defense, and rebounded off harmlessly. Half a second later, the beast's head had been deflected, and was flying back to its body.

Unharmed, CF MegaMan dropped his Aura. Almost immediately, he was running across the roof towards his opponent. He had to reach SavageMan before the Navi reassembled itself.

"See ya!" Snapping his weapon up to bear at the beast, the Bomber smirked at his opponent. A blast of power exploded out of his weapon, and sailed through the air towards SavageMan.

Before the Neo WWW Navi could react, the attack rammed into his chest. Balking under the force of the attack, SavageMan was sent flying backward through the air.

"You think he'd have learned by now." CF MegaMan smirked in triumph.

Half a second later, his smile vanished.

SavageMan had crashed right through an air vent, and out the other side. As of now, the brute was teetering on the edge of the roof, trying frantically to maintain his balance and keep from plunging to the ground below.

That wasn't the problem.

What was the problem was that a young boy was also tottering on the brink, and a fall from this height could be lethal.

"Where'd he come from?" CF MegaMan gasped, as he broke into a run in an effort to snatch the child from certain death.

"He must have been hiding behind that air duct, then when SavageMan blew through it, he took the kid with him." MegaMan's voice echoed a reply through Lan's head.

"But what was he doing up here in the first place?"

"We'll worry about that later- Lan, he's about to go over!"

"What the-" The Cross Fused Bomber's head snapped up, to see the child rapidly loosing his balance. "Step Sword, Battle Chip in!"

"Way ahead of you!" MegaMan replied, as he activated the chip data.

A split second later, CF MegaMan's right fist had transformed into a blue hilt, with a glowing blue blade locked into place. Activating the Chip's power, the Bomber rushed forward at unbelievable speed, his sword carving through the air before him.

"HELP ME!" The child screamed in terror, right before his footing vanished. With a scream, the boy tumbled over the edge, heading to his doom below.

SavageMan growled in fury as CF MegaMan's blade ripped through him. He was out of the fight, having lost again to this blue pipsqueak. Defeated, the Asteroid Navi vanished, logging out of the human world and back to the digital realm.

The Step Sword chip gave out, allowing CF MegaMan to drop back to normal speed. However, his dash had carried him out over the building's roof, and out over empty air. Gravity took effect, pulling him downward towards the falling boy- and the ground below.

"Air Shoes ready, Lan!"

"You know, its amazing how you're always one step ahead of me." Lan chuckled back. "Air Shoes, Battle Chip in!"

"Hang on!" CF MegaMan called out to the falling kid, as his boots suddenly started blowing flames. The chip aided his descent, propelling him downward at a faster rate.

"To what?" The child screamed back. Terrified, he looked down, only to see the pavement rushing up to him a horrifying rate.

"Ask a stupid question!"

The child stared at the ground as it rushed closer, desperately hoping against hope that he would somehow survive. Seconds passed, unable to look at his approaching death, the kid closed his eyes and waited.

"Got you!"

A sharp tug ripped through the kid's being, as something grabbed him from behind and tried to pull him upward. The two forces, his downward momentum, and the upward pull ripped at him from both directions, making him certain that he was about to be torn in half. Moments later, his fall came to a stop, as the upward force won the deadly battle.

The child cracked his eyes, barely able to believe that he was still alive. Glancing up, the kid saw his rescuer: Cross Fusion MegaMan.

"There now, you're safe." CF MegaMan shifted so that he landed upright, and deactivated his Air Shoes. His rescue over, the Bomber gently deposited the rescued child on the ground. "You didn't doubt me did you?"

The kid looked up at him, his eyes wide and mouth shut.

"Hey, what's the matter?" CF MegaMan caught the strange look the kid was giving him. "Something wrong? What's your name?"

The kid just shook his head, and remained mute.

CF MegaMan studied the child as he tried to figure out what was the matter. The child wore a pair of faded white tennis shoes, as well as a pair of tattered black slacks. A T-shirt that had obviously seen better days was wrapped around his tiny body, which was so skinny, Lan wondered what how the kid managed to stay alive. The child had bright round eyes, and a mess of hair that refused to stay put.

"Lan!" MegaMan broke into their thoughts. "The DA's fading away! We're about to drop out of Cross Fusion!"

"I'm ready." The Op tensed himself as the sustaining dome faded away, as a result, MegaMan's armor broke apart and revert back into his PET. As soon as the process had finished, the op hurriedly reached out and caught his PET as it dropped towards the ground.

"What the-?" Lan blinked and glanced around.

"What's wrong?" The Bomber called out from his terminal.

"That little squirt!" The Op glanced around in disbelief. "He got away!"

"Say what?"

"That kid just vanished!" Lan turned his head, peering about in an effort to find the child. "He must have run off while we were Crossing Out."

"Strange, I wonder who he was…"

The answer to that question, literally lay beneath their feet. Down below the streets of Den Tech City, the runaway child had just finished climbing down the manhole ladder, and was reaching the city's rainwater sewers. While his rescuer had been preoccupied with the Dimensional Area, the child had slipped away and hastily scurried down a nearby manhole. Most children would cringe at the idea of descending into such a place, but this particular child didn't mind- it was second nature to him.

As the child reached the bottom step, and entered the sewers, he found himself standing before two older teens. Teen 1 was a bulky, stocky guy with black hair, and an acne scarred face that would never win a beauty prize. Teen 2 was slender and short, his wiry limbs were amazingly thin, and his narrow face could be attractive if given the right chance to reveal itself.

"Wow, little Shun almost got himself in a mess." Teen 1 rumbled, a smirk tracing his lips. "Decided to tangle with SavageMan, huh? What were you going to do, tackle his left or right ankle?"

"Don't call me 'Shun', Gregory." The short child snapped back in annoyance. "I have a name."

"Right, right, right," Teen 2 hastily butted into the conversation. "We know that. But this is important, you didn't… talk to that Net Saver did you? You know what'll happen if you talk to any stranger…"

The child's eyes widened in fear, as pure terror appeared in his eyes. "I didn't tell him anything! I didn't even speak to him! I promise! I'd never talk to an outsider!"

"You're sure?"

"I didn't even say a word!" The child hastily affirmed his previous statements.

"O.K. then," Teen 2 replied slowly, "let's go home. Scratch'll be upset with us for being late as it is."

"I'm sorry Slim." The boy mumbled, "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah?" Gregory snapped back. "Next time: Don't."

"Lay off," Slim shot an angry look at his companion. "Leave Sean alone, he's been through enough today as it is."

End Chapter!


	2. Insert witty chapter title here

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"It sure is weird..."

"What's wrong, Lan?" Maylu turned to look at her companion, as they headed home from school.

"Yesterday I went out to stop SavageMan- again." Lan made his reply as he continued to walk along the street. "And this kid was there and almost got himself killed. After I rescued him, he wouldn't talk to me, and disappeared without a trace while I was crossing out."

"He did?" Maylu pondered the puzzling story, trying to come up with a possible solution for it. "Maybe he was just scared. If I had just gotten involved in an Asteroid Navi fight and didn't know anything about it, I'd be terrified."

"He might have been," The brunette shrugged, "But I get the feeling that there's something else involved… Kind of like… he was in trouble."

Meanwhile within MegaMan's PET, the Bomber and Roll were discussing that very subject.

"It was strange." MegaMan shrugged, "He just clammed up as soon as we rescued him. I don't know what it was, but there was something about him that-"

The Blue Bomber broke off his sentence, as a familiar beep echoed through his helmet. Immediately, he activated his PET's vibrate and blink features, since that sound meant that Lan had a new E-mail.

"Lan! Mail!"

"Huh? What is it?" The Bomber pulled his PET out of its belt clip and glanced into the screen.

"It's from your mom." MegaMan hastily scanned the message. "It's a reminder to take that Custom Disk over to your dad at SciLab."

"Yikes!" The Op's eyes went wide. "I almost forgot!"

"News flash: You did forget." The Blue Navi quipped, "You just now remembered because of the E-mail that your Mom sent. Really, Lan, you have to start being more dependable-"

"Yeah, yeah, we can discuss the details later." Lan slid his Terminal back into its pouch to halt the lecture. That done, he bid a hasty farewell to Maylu and set off for SciLab.

Fortunately for Lan, the trip was pretty much uneventful, and so he managed to reach SciLab with minimal delay. And so roughly fifteen minutes later he arrived at the giant complex.

Hastily entering the lab and bypassing security, the brunette worked his way up to the top floor of the complex where his father's office was located.

Upon reaching the office door, Lan pulled out the disk so that he was ready turn it over to his father.

"Knock, knock!" The brunette called out as he pushed the door open and entered the office.

"Oh?" Dr. Hikari looked up, a bewildered expression on his face over seeing his son entering the room. "Hi, Lan. What brings you here?"

"You forgot this at home," The Op held up the computer disk, "And Mom asked me to bring it to you after school."

"And he almost forgot about it himself." MegaMan spoke up from his PET. "Luckily he had me along to remind him."

"I was getting around to it," Lan defended himself from the accusation.

"Sure you were."

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"Hey, Shun, will you get your head out of the clouds and back down here to earth? We don't have time to daydream about PETs and the N1!"

The gray-haired kid shot the older teen an angry look, but reluctantly turned away from the store window.

"We'd better come back with something." Slim muttered between his two companions, Gregory and Sean, "Or Scratch'll have our heads for two days in a row. Yesterday he was lenient, today he'll be downright angry."

"If you can call his reaction 'lenient'." Gregory seethed bitterly. "I don't understand that guy. We do all the work and take the risks, but if we come back empty handed from a rough day, he hit's the ceiling. It ain't right."

"Just be glad that he took you in," Slim snapped back, "Otherwise, who knows where you'd have ended up. But enough of this, we need to make a hit, and it needs to be a big one."

"How about we try up that way?" The stocky teen pointed up the street, "it's the better side of town, someone up there should have plenty of money."

"I suppose we could try, its better than nothing." Slim shrugged and glanced over at Sean to get his approval- or where Sean should have been. The kid was gone, vanished from sight.

"Not again!" Gregory clenched his fists in frustration, "I don't know why we put up with that twerp, we should let him starve for leaving us in the lurch all the time."

"Oh, shut up. You know as well as I do where he is." The rail-thin teen turned and set off down the streets.

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"Ah, I did forget about it." Yuichirou quickly filed the disk away in his computer system. "Thanks, Lan."

"Not a problem," The brunette gave a 'thumbs-up', "Anytime, Dad."

"Speaking of which, I was thinking about packing it in and leaving early today." Dr. Hikari stood up and closed down his computer system. "Care to join me as I head home?"

"Sure."

A few minutes later, the pair had left the office and were exiting SciLab.

"So, what's the special occasion?" Lan asked as they pushed open the doors and left the building.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why are you leaving SciLab early?" The brunette pushed the topic, "Normally, you work late, so why are you leaving early tonight?"

"Well…" Yuichirou grinned uneasily. "I have my reasons."

Lan just shrugged and dropped the subject, he wasn't about to force the issue any more than he already had. But still, it was strange that his father would just take off and leave at 5:00 PM, regular time, instead of working late like usual.

"Hey, watch where you're going, pal!"

Lan blinked and looked up to see his father stepping back from a large stocky teenager. Apparently, his father and the teen had bumped into each other.

"Eh, my apologies." Yuichirou blinked and stepped back in confusion. Where had this kid come from? It was like the teen had come out of nowhere and walked into him on purpose. "I didn't see you standing there."

"Whatever." The teen shrugged, then pushed past the two Hikari's to continue on his way. "Just keep your eyes open next time, old man."

"'Old man'?" Lan repeated, anger seeping into his voice. "Nobody talks to my Dad like that!"

The teen just smirked and continued on, vanishing into the crowd of people milling about the streets.

"That guy's got a lot of nerve." Lan pronounced his analysis of the individual; however, before he could launch into a full-blown tantrum about the teen, MegaMan's voice interrupted his moment.

"Hey, Lan, look there!"

"What?" The Op glanced about, bewildered as to what his Navi was talking about.

"There, straight ahead!" The Bomber screamed, "it's the kid we rescued yesterday, the one with the light gray hair!"

"Where? I don't see-" It was at that exact moment, that Lan's eyes landed on a familiar gray head of hair. It only took a fraction of a second for the Op to realize that his Navi was right- it was the kid they had rescued yesterday. The boy was slipping into the crowd and heading north up the street.

"Hey! You!" The brunette shouted after the boy, "You with the gray hair!"

For one fleeting instant, the boy stole a look over his shoulder. Even with the distance between them, Lan could easily read the emotion in the kid's eyes: fear.

To Lan's surprise, the youth broke into a run, forcing his way through the crowd, away from the brunette Operator.

"Huh?" The Op blinked in amazement as the child dashed away. Overcoming his surprise, Lan burst into a run, giving chase the child.

"I'll be back, Dad!" Lan shouted over his shoulder as he dashed off, "Don't wait up for me!"

"Lan, wait! What's going on?" Yuichirou screamed after his son- but it was too late, the brunette was already out of earshot.

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"What's his problem?" Lan bobbed in and out of the crowd, desperately trying to keep the kid in his sights. The guy was amazingly fast for his physical condition, and giving Lan a run for his money as he struggled to keep up.

Gray Hair dashed about a corner and into a narrow alleyway, temporarily slipping out of Lan's view. Undaunted, the Net Saver whipped around the corner in pursuit.

"Hey!" Lan shouted as he entered the alley. No sooner had he entered the street, than his eyes widened in amazement. Gray Hair was talking to a short thin teen- and the stocky guy who had run into his Dad!

Unfortunately, Lan's shout had alerted the two teens and the boy to Lan's approach. Almost instantly, the group began running towards the other end of the street. Evidently, they didn't want a confrontation.

As he skated past the rows of trash cans down the alleyway, the Net Saver was sure that he heard one of the teens say: "He's onto us!"

Lan pushed himself faster, he had to catch them…

For a brief moment, it looked like fortune was favoring the Net Saver. When Gray Hair turned to run, somehow he tripped over his own feet sending him tumbling to the ground below. The kid hit the ground hard, and Lan spotted a small brown object go flying from the boy's right hand.

"Hey! You okay?" Lan picked up the pace, a few more feet and he'd be able to help the small boy to his feet.

"Stay away from him, Net Saver!"

The brunette's head snapped up, to see the stocky teen snatching the lid off of a trash can. Stocky teen whipped his arm back and then sent the lid spinning through the air, Frisbee style.

The Net Saver saw the rotating disk coming a fraction of a second too late. Just as he reached the gray-haired teen, the trash can lid rammed into his stomach. The force of impact knocked him off of his feet, and sent him crashing to the ground beside Gray Hair.

"Come on, Sean!" Thin Teen rushed over and dragged the boy to his feet. Half-leading, half-dragging Sean, Thin Teen rushed back up the alleyway taking the boy with him.

"We gotta get out of here!" Stocky Teen followed his companion's lead.

Gasping and sputtering, Lan gripped his bruised chest with his left hand. As he worked his way to his knees, the brunette raised his head to see the targets of his search vanish around the street corner. Hastily, the injured Op forced himself to his feet, and walked up to the mouth of the alley.

Lan glanced up and down the various streets, but it was no use. The two teens and Sean were long gone, vanished from sight.

"Well," The brunette groaned and rubbed his chest. "That went well."

"I don't get it." MegaMan shrugged from his PET. "Why'd they take off like that? It was like they were afraid of you because you were a Net Saver… You don't think?"

"Think what?"

"That they were up to something illegal, and so you, as an Official, freaked them out."

"I don't know, it doesn't make any sense." Just then, Lan's mind clicked with an idea. Turning, the Op cast his gaze across the area, and it wasn't long before the brunette's eyes settled on the brown object that Sean had dropped when he had fallen.

The Op walked over to the object and picked it up. As he turned it over to examine his find, his eyes wondered in surprise. It was a wallet, a very familiar wallet-

His father's wallet.

Amazed, Lan flipped the pouch of leather open. Sure enough, the name 'Yuichirou Hikari' stared back at him.

"Oh boy…" The Net Saver groaned. "It's Dad's wallet!"

"Whoa." MegaMan's voice reflected his surprise. "What's it doing- Those kids picked your dad's pocket?"

"That's what it looks like." Lan studied the object, "You don't think that… Sean's a thief do you?"

"I don't have that answer, Lan, but you know what we saw. And it's hard to argue with that."


	3. Slur and Zero

Harry: Whoohoo! A.N.'s at last!

Web: Yep, one minor question, but it's worth addressing. Li- whoops, wrong screen name, Azn Girl, I know. I've never played BN 2 and it's almost impossible to judge a person's character from a script. But you have to remember the law of 'Equivilant Exchange', which-

Harry: Which means dat Anime, Manga, and gamescreate 'equivelant' characters, but 'exchange' dey're characta and plot as dey want. Do Web doesn't have to replicate dat exact Sean from BN 2. Just lookit what dey did to Lan in does odda mediums.

Web: I was going to be a buit more tactful there Harry. But that's the basic explanation.

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"That's it, that's his hair color." Lan nodded his approval of the technician's work. "But it was a little longer, and messy."

"Give me a moment." The techie's fingers flew over his keyboard, changing the digital image on the computer screen.

After finding his dad and returning the wallet, Lan had been roped into talking to the Net Saver's Fugitive Imaging Department. The FID used the latest technology to create digital pictures of criminals, wanted felons, and the occasional child pickpocket. It was Lan's job to help them create an image of the kid who had stolen his father's wallet.

From what the Net Saver gathered, there had been an increase of juvenile crime over the past few months, and this was the first real lead they had on the kids causing the trouble.

"But his eyes… I'm not sure." The brunette stared at the digital image, trying to remember just what 'the kid' had looked like. "They were… slightly red, and just a little rounder."

The technician slowly changed the shape of the eyes, until Lan shouted at him to stop.

"That's him," Lan said with authority. "That's the kid."

"All right, thanks." The technician saved off the image and began sending it to his cohorts. "We'll run this through every database known to man, it shouldn't be long before we find out who the kid is. Thanks for you help."

"Anytime." The brunette turned and began walking away; this had been one event that he hadn't counted on.

"So, Lan…" MegaMan called out from his PET.

The brunette Net Saver recognized the Navi's tone of voice almost immediately. Whenever MegaMan used that inflection, it meant one of two things: 1. He (Lan) had just done something really stupid, 2. He had forgotten something or was about to run late.

"What did you get your parents for their anniversary?"

Lan stopped in mid-step, his eyes widening in growing horror. "Anniversary?"

"Yep, it's today you know." The Navi struggled to maintain a straight face, Lan's expression was hilarious. "That's why your dad left so early, he doesn't want a repeat of last year when _he_ forgot about it."

Lan swallowed hard as the memory of last year's anniversary surfaced in his mind. Most people assumed that Haruka was sweet, caring, and kind, which was true. But when pushed too far…

Last year, Yuichirou had been working twenty-four seven his Dimensional Area project, so much so that he had completely forgotten about the date and worked overnight.

When he got home the next day, it hadn't been pretty.

"Are… are you sure?" The brunette's voice cracked in terror. How had he forgotten about the special occasion?

"It's right here on the calendar."

"Gyah!" Lan exploded into motion; he whipped down the hallway and began flying for the exit. "Man, I sure hope that Sal's is still open!"

"Sorry, Lan." MegaMan quipped, "But I know for a fact that your dad's got flowers in mind for this evening. You'd better come up with something else."

"Oh, thanks." Lan rolled his eyes. Why him? He'd faced PharoahMan, Grave, the Life Virus, mastered Cross Fusion, faced off with the Nebular Navi's in the human world, but not one of those events even came close to matching the fear he had over missing his parent's anniversary.

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"Yuck, why do I always get stuck with the dumpster diving?"

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with you dropping a day's worth of-"

"I didn't want an answer to that, Red." The red-haired girl groaned and turned back to the task at hand- picking through the contents of the dumpster. Risking a glance at her PET, which was propped up against the opposite wall of the alleyway, the girl could see the snicker on her Navi's, Red's, face. For some reason, her Navi took delight in her failures.

"Whatever, Missy." Red snickered.

The redhead picked through the dumpster for a few more minutes, then finally groaned and leapt out of the trash can.

"I don't see anything else that we can use in there." Missy shrugged, and held out a battered and worn PET Advance for her Navi to inspect. "Just this PET, still works. But I don't think that Scratch would think it's useful."

"Right, he's upset that there are three PET's as it is." Red mumbled, "Maybe you'd better leave it."

"I don't think so, PET's are hard to come by." Missy scooped up her own device and clipped it into her belt. "Very hard. I think I'll hang onto this one."

"Yeah, but what'll you do with it? Scratch'll see it for sure if you keep it."

"I can let Sean hang onto it for me." The redhead shrugged and began heading deeper into the alleyway. She had her sights set on the manhole a short distance away; it was her route home. "It doesn't have a Net Navi in it, so he can't cause that much trouble. And you know how much he's always dreamed of having one."

"So help me, Missy, this soft spot you've got for Sean is going to get you into trouble. You're so sweet on him, why don't you just marry him while you're at it?"

"Because I'm almost six years older than he is." Missy stuck her tongue out at Red, as she reached the manhole.

Working quickly, the redhead pried up the cover and slipped down into the sewers below. As she walked towards her 'home', her mind started to drift back over the events of her life.

Hastily, Missy shoved those thoughts aside, things might not have been great in her past life. But her life with Scratch was a definite improvement, even if she didn't have any freedom under his reign.

Minutes passed, Missy reached her abode. Her home was actually the basement of a long-abandoned building somewhere on the east side of town. Fortunately, the basement connected up to the sewer system so that she and the others could come and go without notice. Each one of them had a corner of the multiple basements to call their own, and that was about it as far as privacy went.

The redhead scrambled out of the sewer and through the hatch to the basement. She'd never liked that dank place; so the crowded building was a welcome relief- to a degree.

"Hey, Sam!" Missy shouted at a random kid scurrying past her. "You seen Sean?"

"Have I seen him?" Sam, a super-short blond squirt called back. "Girl, you missed the excitement! It really wasn't pretty."

Missy's heart froze. Not again.

"What happened?"

"Sean bungled another job, so Scratch laid into him." Sam shrugged and began to walk away. "He's up in his corner, crying like the baby he is."

"I don't have time for this." The redhead brushed past the boy and rushed through the building. Desperate hope clawed at her heart as she prayed for Sean to be O.K.

A gasp escaped her, as Missy came within eyesight of Sean. The small boy was a wreck, battered and bruised, Scratch had really let him have it this time.

"Sean?" The girl slowed to a near stop. "Sean can you hear me?"

No answer.

Missy refused to consider the possibility, the possibility that Sean was-

"Uh? Hello?"

"Sean." Missy breathed a sigh of relief; the child had answered her.

"Miss- Are you there?" The child gasped in an almost inaudible whisper.

"I'm here." The redhead dropped to the child's side, shocked and awed by the boy's condition. "And look, I brought this for you."

Gently taking one of the boy's hands, Missy placed the silver PET Advance into Sean's fingers, and then closed them around the device.

"Is… Is that a-?" The battered boy struggled to look down at the thing resting in his palm.

"It is, your own PET." Missy explained, "I found it today, and brought it here to you."

"My own… PET." The gray-haired child gasped through his pain, "Missy… Thank you… Who's my Navi?"

As those words hit her ears, Missy's heart stopped in horror. She'd forgotten that the PET didn't have a Net Navi equipped, and she had no idea how to get one.

"It's… uh, Sean…" The redhead stuttered about, trying to find the right words to break the news to the boy. "About the Navi-"

A bright white glow exploded from the PET screen, bathing the two in its light, and cutting the redhead's explanation off.

Amazed, Sean and Missy stared into the PET's screen. The light streaming from the LCD display made it difficult to see what was happening, but Sean could just barely make out the form of a green and white Net Navi.

"You have been chosen…" The Navi spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Ch- chosen for what?" Sean's eyes were wide open in disbelief.

"To wield the power of Zero. Take him, use his power as you see fit."

Sean continued to stare at the PET as the glow faded away. Moments passed before the room returned to its prior dimly lit state.

Missy realized that she had been holding her breath, and quickly released it.

The two looked into the PET screen, to see a new red and white Net Navi staring back at them.

"My Net Op." The Net Navi stared straight at Sean. "I am Zero.EXE."

"Um, hello." The gray-haired boy continued to watch the Navi. "I'm Sean."

End Chapter.

Next: 'Steel' yourself!


	4. Some quick comic relief

Lazerwulf, the PET isn't always empty. Usually Slur just wipes the Net Op's current Navi out and presents him with an Asteroid (or is it 'a steroid'?)Navi.

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"LAN! IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!"

"Oh… Five… more minutes…"

"That's what you said ten minutes ago!" MegaMan screamed from his PET. He knew this morning drill like the back of his digital hand; Lan would hem and haw, but finally give in and get up, provided that he(MegaMan) kept shouting.

The Blue Bomber studied the sleeping figure, trying to decide just how to wake his snoozing Net Op up. Finally, an idea presented itself. The idea was incredibly cruel- but justifiable.

"AUGH!" MegaMan cut loose with the most heart-wrenching scream he could muster. As he continued to scream, the Navi dropped to his PET's floor and crumpled himself up awkwardly.

As expected, Lan cracked an eye, but didn't seem to be that worried.

That meant that it was time for part two.

The Bomber moaned loudly, throwing a couple of raspy coughs into the works as well.

The brunette opened his other eye; although it was clear that his brain was still fogged, he trying to figure out what was happening.

"La… an…" MegaMan intentionally sputtered, contorting his face into a mask of pain. "Lan! L… an! He… help!"

"MegaMan?" The Net Saver jerked and sat up in his bed, sleep completely forgotten about as worry over his Navi flooded him. Swiftly he looked over at his PET; immediately his eyes widened in absolute horror.

"This is it… Lan…" The Bomber wheezed. "I'm… done for…"

"What are you talking about?" The brunette hurled himself out of bed and over to his desk where his PET resided. "MegaMan! What happened?"

"Last… Night…" The Navi muttered painfully. "You… received an E-mail… I… Opened it… And got attacked… by a … viral attachment… I… tried to call… for you… but… you wouldn't wake up…"

"What?"

"This is it Lan… I'm finished…" MegaMan twitched, his right leg beginning to dissolve. "It was… a blast… but I can't… hold on…"

"NO!" Lan gripped his PET in horror. How could this happen? He's slept right through something like that? And now his Navi was going to die for it? "This can't be happening! MEGAMAN!"

"Bye… Lan…" The Navi closed his eyes, and slipped away.

"No… no…" The brunette stared at the screen in disbelief. MegaMan was gone…

"BOO!"

"GYAI!" Lan grabbed his chest with his hands as he tumbled over backwards. With a loud 'thud' he slammed into the floor, sprawled out painfully.

The sound of MegaMan's laughter flooded the room.

"Oh… I really had you going…" The Net Navi howled with laughter as he ignored the if-looks-could-kill glare coming from his Net Op.

"Yeah, really funny. Give me a heart attack, why don't ya?" The brunette grumbled as he got to his feet. "That wasn't funny."

"'Funny' is in the eye of the beholder, Lan." MegaMan sobered somewhat. "How else was I supposed to get you up?"

"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Lan smirked as he realized that for once, he knew something that his Navi didn't. "It's summer vacation. I don't have to get up early."

"Actually, you do." The Bomber replied, "You forgot that you still haven't found an anniversary present for your parents, and now you're a day late. You lucked out last night when your father kept mom out so late that you could sneak off to bed and miss them."

"I'm working on it…" Lan sighed in defeat. He still hadn't found a gift, and that wasn't a good thing. "But finding anniversary presents isn't exactly my specialty. Do you have any ideas?"

"Actually, I do. I got my parents a nice basket of assorted flavored coffees for their anniversary."

The Net Op spun around, screamed another 'GYIAH!' as he stared into his PET screen; then fell over backwards to the floor in surprise for the second time that day.

"Mr. Famous!" Lan stared up at his PET's display, which was broadcasting a live feed of the aforementioned scientist. "How long have you been there?"

"I came in after the 'sneak off to bed and miss them' but before the 'I'm working on it'." Famous replied. "And it's just 'Famous'! All right?"

"Yeah, sure Mr. Famous." The Net Saver stumbled to his feet.

"Anyway…" Famous stifled a groan over the unnecessary title. "I'm not here to discuss your gift-giving problems. We've got a situation at the Eighth National Bank of Den Tech, some rogue Navi is trying to enter the bank's system. And we'd like you to take care of that."

"Not a problem! I'll take care of it in a jiffy, Mr. Famous!" Lan closed out the connection and hastily began dressing.

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"It's amazing." Famous sighed and placed his forehead in his left palm, while resting his left arm on his desk. "That boy can save the world, but he can't get my name right."

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"Almost there!" Lan pushed himself harder, he could see the Bank over the top of the hill, but that didn't mean that it was time to slow down.

The brunette whipped into the bank's parking lot, and eyed the set-up. The main lobby/office was located in the center of the building, with a row of ATM's on the left side of the building, and a drive through deposit station on the right.

Deciding that it would be faster to jack in from an ATM instead of going inside and running through the usual 'I'm-a-Net-Saver-on-a-mission' routine, Lan rushed over to the ATM's, spotted a terminal, and went to work.

"Jack in! MegaMan!" Lan whipped his PET Progress overhead, then he dropped it to chest level, sighted on the terminal, and hit the proper button. "Power Up! Let's fix some accounting errors!"

With the required burst of blue light, MegaMan transferred himself into the ATM, from there he continued on into the Bank's mainframe. Two seconds later, the Bomber crashed in the ground of the Bank's Network.

"See anything?"

"Not yet." The Bomber glanced around, his eyes probing every nook and cranny of the Network. The place was huge, and he didn't know how long it would take to find the rouge Navi in a place this big.

Breaking into a run, the Navi dashed off to his right and deeper into the Network. Common sense told him that he'd find the Navi over in the Accounting Department, where the numbers could be changed and money stolen digitally.

At it wasn't long before MegaMan saw signs that he was right.

As he ran along, the Bomber thought he sensed something behind him. Not quite sure what it was, but trusting his instincts, MegaMan changed course and leapt to his right.

A bolt of flame ripped through the spot that the Blue Bomber had occupied seconds ago.

MegaMan vaulted over in a mid-air somersault, rotating to face his attack. As his feet hit the ground, the Bomber's clenched his fist, causing his right hand transform into a round cannon-like object.

"Mega Buster!" The Blue Navi's eyes locked onto his attacker, a random Spikey. A burst of energy exploded out of MegaMan's cannon and shot through the air- and the virus.

The Spikey dissolved, blown into deletion.

"Watch your back!"

Acting on Lan's advice, the Blue Bomber leapt upward. Due to his maneuver, another Spikey shot underneath his airborne feet, if he had stayed on the ground he would have been nailed by the beast.

MegaMan hit the ground, his Buster firing blast after blast of energy. The Spikey lasted about two seconds underneath the barrage of firepower.

"Huh?" The Bomber blinked, realizing that a growing shadow was covering the area that he was standing on. On instinct, he hurled himself forward, vacating the area just before a large steel block crashed into the floor in the exact spot that MegaMan had been standing seconds ago.

The Bomber skidded to a stop, and turned around to face the steel cube.

It was then that the Navi realized that the cube wasn't a cube at all, it was a Net Navi. Two blocky 'L'-shaped sections broke off from the front of the cube and dropped to the ground, apparently they were his legs, and were connected to the base of the cube by two black, human-looking upper legs. Two square rectangles slid off from the front of the cube, sliding down to function as arms while the remaining cube pieces separated to reveal a red cylindrical body, and became armored shoulders that the arms connected to. A smaller cylinder rose out of the body, revealing a face with hard features and tight black helmet.

"So, you're the mighty MegaMan." The blocky Navi muttered, "It'll be a pleasure to squash you. The name's HardMan, and this will be your last battle!"

"I can't tell you how many times I heard that line." The Bomber kept his Buster pointed at his attacker. "And I'm guessing that you're the one that's trying to rob the bank blind."

"Exactly." HardMan sneered, "Now, let's see what you've got!"

"Hard Knuckles!" The blocky Navi's right hand clenched itself and transformed into a large golden steel fist. HardMan snapped his arm forward, causing his oversized steel hand to go flying across the arena towards MegaMan.

The Bomber saw the attack coming in plenty of time. Hurling himself to his right, he easily cleared the attack; the Hard Knuckle looked like it packed punch, but it was also super-slow.

"Let's take this guy out!" Lan whipped a chip out of his folder and slammed it into his PET. "Spreader, Battle Chip in! Download!"

The Blue Bomber clenched his fist as it transformed into a round cannon with eight stubby spokes projecting from the sides. As he brought his weapon up to bear at his opponent, MegaMan noticed grin creeping over HardMan's face…

And then something rock hard and solid rammed into his back. Recoiling from the impact, the Bomber crashed to the floor, hard.

Glancing up from his sprawled position, MegaMan saw the Hard Knuckled reattaching itself to HardMan's arm. Apparently, the attack had curved around to come back to HardMan, and nailed the Bomber since he had been in the way.

"That was easy." The steel Navi snapped at his downed opponent. "Now to finish you off!"

"Steel Slam!" HardMan rocketed into the air, hovering to a stop above MegaMan. Instantly, he had folded his body together into its Steel Cube state and was heading down towards his opponent in an effort to crush the smaller Navi.

Gravity send the cubed HardMan slamming down into his opponent- or rather, where his opponent should have been. The steel Navi crashed into the ground, demolishing the tiles beneath his body, but not making contact with the Blue Navi.

"What the-?" The renegade Navi unfolded himself and returned to his humanoid state. Glancing around in bewilderment, he tried to figure out just where his opponent had vanished to.

"You gotta love that Area Steal." MegaMan's voice came through the air from behind HardMan.

The steel Navi whipped around- to find the Blue Bomber standing behind him, his Spreader primed and ready for use.

"Bye!" MegaMan pulled the trigger, unleashing his weapon's firepower on HardMan. His attack ripped through the air, split into nine smaller shots, and slammed into the larger Navi. Smoke filled the air as the attack hit its target, obscuring the area.

"Yeah!" Lan pumped a fist in the air, "We got him!"

"You wish!"

Before the Blue Bomber could react, two golden fists shot out of the smoke. Caught by surprise, MegaMan took the attacks full force as they rammed into his stomach and chest and hurled him through the air like he was nothing more than a rag doll.

The Bomber crashed into the floor, deciding that this was not going well.

Lifting his head, the blue Navi caught sight of HardMan exiting the smoke. Somehow, the large Navi had blocked the attack and escaped unharmed.

"I've had enough!" HardMan bellowed. Taking advantage of MegaMan's decked position, the steel Navi leapt into the air above the Bomber. Folding his arms and legs in, HardMan assumed his cube position and careened downwards to crush his adversary.

"All right, it's time to start playing hardball!" Lan's fingers ripped a chip out of his folder, and fed it to his hungry Personal Terminal. "Metal Soul, Navi Chip in! Download!"

Instantly, the thick part of MegaMan's boots took on a red color, as a shining metal plate appeared below his knee. A circular blue chest-plate formed around his chest, as his shoulder pads became perfect red spheres and grew a pair of individual gears that ran around his shoulders. His gloves turned red and lengthened out to form a silver gear running horizontally around his wrists. A red plate appeared over the back of his hand, completing that part of the transformation. Finally, the yellow stripes on his helmet became gray protruding saw teeth, the outside edges of his helmet became red while the space between the saw teeth turned blue. A red mouth-guard slid over the Bomber's face, completing the transformation. "Double Soul: Metal Soul!"

"Time to break this brick!" MegaMan Metal Soul hauled back his fist and waited for his opponent to drop in close. At the last second before impact, the Bomber launched his armored fist skyward, ramming it into HardMan.

Amazingly, the force of impact knocked HardMan out of his cubed state and sent him flying backward through the air.

"Hard Knuckles!" HardMan twisted about and crashed into the ground standing upright. Instantly he snapped his arms forward, sending his fits flying through the air.

The Bomber clenched his fist as he watched the attacks race towards him. MegaMan prepared to counter-attack. As a sphere of energy surrounded his fist, the Bomber brought his arm back to swing.

"You're not the only one that packs a punch. Metal Break!"

The Blue Bomber launched his fist forward, ramming it into the Hard Knuckles. Overpowered, the two gold fists were sent rebounding back to HardMan, while MegaMan escaped unharmed.

"Now, let's put a dent in this guy!" Lan slammed another chip into his Terminal. "Guts Soul, Navi Chip in, Download!"

MegaMan's Metal Soul armor shattered away, revealing his new Guts Soul get-up. His boots were now much thicker and yellow. A red circular chest-plate encircled his torso, on which sat his two yellow spherical shoulder pads. His gloves had rounded out to resemble GutsMan's, turned yellow, and his hands had become black and over-sized. His power-pack had transformed into two red cylinders that rested on his back. And his helmet had become yellow and square, with a gray bar sitting the front of the helmet just above his forehead. "Double Soul: Guts Soul!"

As HardMan's forearms snapped back into place, he looked up to see MegaMan Guts Soul charging at him. The Navi's right arm was cocked back, and ready to deliver one powerful knuckle sandwich, causing HardMan to realize that he wasn't in the mood for lunch.

"It's time to send you back to the scrap yard!" The Bomber closed in and sent his fist flying towards HardMan's chest. Screaming a battle cry, MegaMan drove his fist home.

HardMan screamed as he was hurled backward through the air, half a second later, his body transformed into the words 'Log Out' and vanished as he left the Network in defeat.

"And don't come back!" The Bomber dropped to the ground and hurled one last insult after his defeated opponent.

"'Don't come back?'" Lan repeated in disbelief. "What kind of a line is that?"

"Hey, I can't come up with witty rejoinders all the time." MegaMan shrugged his response.


	5. Chase the pickpocket!

Begin Chapter!

"Sorry."

Chaud's shoulder rolled backward from the impact as a short gray-haired kid collided with him. Without offering more apology, the kid brushed past and continued running on his way.

The double-haired Net Op glanced over his shoulder after the squirt, but the kid was already bounding around the next corner and escaping from view.

"Hmm…"A hum slipped from Chaud's lips as he peered after the kid in thought.

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"Not bad, Shun." Gregory's eyes went wide as he thumbed through the billfold in his hands. "Man, you lifted Chaud Blaze's wallet!"

"You're kidding me." Slim snatched the billfold and looked through it to make certain it was real. "You aren't kidding… This is unbelievable!"

"Look at that ID." The stocky teen pointed to the identification card residing in the wallet. "There's nowhere we couldn't go once we rig that!"

Slim whistled in amazement. "Good work, Sean."

"Yeah…" The gray-haired kid's voice gave away the fact that he wasn't listening.

Wondering what had Sean's attention, the two teens looked over. They saw Sean thumbing through a stack of Battle Chips.

"And what are you going to do with those?" Gregory walked over and squatted down to peer over Sean's shoulder.

"None of your business!" Sean whipped the Chips away and stuffed them in his pocket.

"As if you've got any use for them." The stocky tormentor continued, "You don't even own a PET, much less a Navi to use them."

"Wait a moment…" Slim moved over to stand before the gray-haired kid. "Where did you get those?"

"Same place I got that wallet, I lifted them from Blaze." The boy snapped back. "Now leave me alone!"

"All right, all right." Gregory took a step back. "Keep your rotten chips for all I care."

"Come on, we'd better get rid of that wallet." The skinny teen started to walk away. "Once Blaze finds it missing, it's going to be one hot tamale."

"Good point, let's go Sean." The stocky teen turned around- and then blinked in surprise.

Sean was nowhere in sight. As usual, he had slipped away while the others weren't looking.

"Not again!" Gregory hissed in anger.

"How does he do that?" Slim moaned. "Come on, we'd better find him."

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"Bingo!"

"What'd you find?" MegaMan peered out of his PET, trying to spot what Lan had spotted.

"Right there!" The brunette pointed through the store window, to the display poster sitting on the other side of the glass.

"Uh… a rock concert?" The Bomber glanced at his Op in complete disbelief. Not even Lan could be that dense. "I don't really think that you dad's into heavy metal."

"Not that poster." Lan shuddered at the mental image of his father decked out in rock and roll garb and waving an electric guitar. "The other poster. The one of Dwayne Jones."

"The classical pianist?" The Bomber nodded in understanding. "Good idea. I think that that's a little bit more their speed-"

MegaMan cut his sentence off an all-too familiar 'beep' resounded through his terminal. "Hey, Lan, you've got a message from Famous."

Instantly, the brunette's hand had ripped his PET from his belt and raised it to look in the screen.

"What's up, Mr. Famous?"

"For the millionth time, it's just 'Famous'." The scientist shook his head in frustration. "I don't go around calling you 'Mr. Lan', do I?"

"Mr. Lan… that's got a nice ring to it. Don't you think?"

"Oh…" Famous' head dropped in surrender. "I wanted to let you know that the tech boys have picked up a lead on Gray Hair."

"You have?"

"Yes, his real name is Sean Obihiro." Famous glanced over the information on his screen. "His parents died in a car accident when he was very young… He bounced in and out of various foster homes… And then he was reported missing about three years ago; and up to now, we haven't seen a trace of him."

"Now that's weird."

"We haven't picked up his trail since." Famous wrapped up his summary. "And about this morning's attack. Did HardMan affiliate himself with any organization?"

"HardMan…? No," Lan shrugged. "he didn't; just tried to flatten MegaMan like a pancake."

"I see, keep your eyes open. I've got a nasty feeling that something's about to break, and it won't be pretty when it does."

"Sure thing, Mr. Famous."

"It's just FAMOUS!"

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"I'm ready, Sean."

"Very good, Zero." Sean looked into his PET Advance.

"I don't know about this." Missy glanced around the Net Arcade nervously. "If Scratch finds out that we're here instead of back home, we're really going to get it."

"I don't care." The gray-headed kid frowned defiantly as he remembered his beating. "I've had about enough of that guy…"

"You don't mean that and you know it." The girl shot her companion a reprimanding look. "Where else would you go? Back to the-"

That remark would touch one of the few nerves that could set Sean off, and Missy realized that fact too late to check herself.

"Don't go there!" The boy's voice came out so loud and angrily that several nearby people shot curious looks at him. "If you want to go back, then go. But I'm staying here."

Missy stared at the boy for several long moments; her emotions were tearing her apart with indecision. She wanted to stay and watch out for Sean, but her own fear kept tugging at her as well…

There was only one choice, she turned and scurried away.

The boy glared after her for a long moment, then turned back to the business at hand.

"Jack in! Zero!" Sean whipped the PET around his index finger like an old fashioned gun-slinger would with his pistols as he brought the device up above his head. Setting his eyes on the Jack In Sensor on the nearby arcade unit, the boy dropped his arms to chest level and hit the 'Transmit' button. "Power up!"

A burst of red light shot out of Sean's PET and leapt into the sensor. From there, the light raced into the computer Network and shot down into the floor, where it reconstituted itself into the Net Navi Zero.

Zero was a tall Navi, easily matching ProtoMan's height. His boots and gloves were a medium red and several brown cords were wrapped around the gloves and boots to keep them in place. His bodysuit was a pure white and ran up into his red chest armor. Red, square shoulder pads exploded out of the chest plate, and swept out a good distance from the Navi's body. Zero's head was covered by a red helmet, the sides fashioned into long fins that swept from his cheeks out past the back of his head.

"You looking for a Net battle?"

Zero turned to find a bizarre Net Navi standing behind him. The Navi's nobody was nothing more than a rectangular rocket launching station. It's head was styled like the tip of a missile, with a single visor acting as eyes. Spindly eyes and legs projected from the launch-pad body, bearing its weight.

"What if I am?" The swordsman turned to face the launch-pad on legs.

"If you're looking to brawl, then I can give you a powerhouse match." The boxy Navi stated. "The name's BreakMan. So, you going to battle me?"

"Sean?" Zero checked with his Net Op.

"Go ahead, we have to start somewhere."

"All right!" BreakMan turned and dashed across the Network to the arena, with a more reserved Zero following at a short distance.

A few minutes later, they had arrived and were prepared to have at it.

BATTLE START!

"Missile attack!" BreakMan's body tensed as a fleet of missiles left his launcher and shot through space towards Zero.

The swordsman remained mute as the rocket sped at him.

Sean wasn't even watching the battle, he was too busy thumbing through his Battle Chips.

"Z Saber." The red Navi clenched his fist, causing his default weapon, a green sword, to appear on his wrist.

The swordsman waited as the rockets whipped towards his body.

Zero lifted his head to stare into his adversary's attack. A split second later, the missiles hit home; the attacks crashed into the swordsman and exploded into clouds of fire, smoke, and ash.

"Easiest Net battle I've ever won." BreakMan smirked at his opponent's destruction.

"I do not believe that a winner has been determined."

The rocket Navi glanced up in horror to see Zero exploding out of the dust clouds unharmed.

"I don't know how you pulled that off, but it won't save you!" BreakMan leveled his body and fired off round after round of his propelled explosives.

The swordsman didn't even flinch. Without so much as slowing down Zero wove back and forth, slipping away from the missiles and dodging them effortlessly.

"Blast it, he's fast!" The bulky Navi thrust out his arms, discharging two larger missiles on the red Navi. "Seeking missiles!"

"Area Steal!" For the first time in the Net battle, Sean came to life. His right hand ripped the aforementioned chip out of his folder and into the air above his head. Bringing his arm down, the boy fed the chip into his waiting PET. "Battle Chip in! Download!"

No sooner had the Terminal registered the chip data, than Zero's frame turned negative for a split second as he 'blinked', vanishing from sight and teleporting somewhere else.

The rockets raced on, passing harmlessly through the air without striking anything.

"Great…" The rocket Navi slowly turned around, wondering where his opponent was going to reappear. "This is just great…"

The soft sound of footsteps caught BreakMan's attention, causing the bulky Navi to spin around to face the noise. Sure enough, the Navi found Zero racing towards him from behind.

"I've got you now!" The rocket Navi lifted his right arm, apparently waiting for his adversary to reach point-blank range before he attacked.

"And we've got you right where we want you!" Sean selected and slid a chip into his PET. "Samaria Sword, Battle Chip in! Download!"

Almost instantly, Zero's right hand transformed into a thick, red, oval hilt, with a thin but deadly blade attached.

Zero exploded into even greater speed. His body became nothing more than a red blur as he flew across the arena at his opponent. A second passed, and Zero was standing eye-to-eye with BreakMan, the rocket Navi hadn't even had time to get a shot off.

"Now a winner has been determined." Zero smiled grimly. The swordsman snapped his blade up over his opponent's head- and then brought it down.

BreakMan exploded into a cloud of pixels, before his body transformed into the words 'Log Out' and he vanished. The rocket Navi had been defeated.

"All right!" Sean literally jumped in joy as he realized that Zero had won the combat. "We did it, Zero! We won!"

The boy's enthusiasm was contagious, and before Zero had realized it, he had broken his stone face and was grinning slightly.

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"And that takes care of that." Lan patted his pocket in satisfaction as he continued down the street.

"You really lucked out." MegaMan shrugged from his PET. "Not to mention cleaned out. What little savings you had are pretty much shot now."

"Yeah, but it was worth it." The brunette stopped at the street corner, as the lights changed to allow the cross traffic to pass. "I think…"

The lights changed again, allowing Lan to cross the street. No sooner had he stepped up to the other side, than his eyes landed on an all-too-familiar head of hair- gray hair.

Lan's mind instantly matched the face with a name, it was Sean.

"HEY! SEAN!" Acting without thinking, as usual, Lan screamed the boy's name and broke into a run. He had to get to the boy and find out just what was going on here. "Sean!"

The gray-haired boy looked up, his eyes filling with fright, as he stepped out of the arcade and back to the crowded streets. That voice calling him, it belonged to Lan Hikari. The boy looked over his shoulder, to see the Net Saver rushing towards him.

Fear grabbed him in his iron grip. Sean couldn't get caught, he wouldn't get caught, and above all, he was NOT going back, no matter what.

The gray haired boy broke into a run, dashing down the streets away from his brunette pursuer.

"Not again!" Lan groaned as he pumped more speed out of his legs. "Why is it that every time we see this kid, we end up chasing him?"

Unfortunately, he didn't have an answer to that question, nor did he have a choice. Lan ran on, squeezing between people, ducking through openings in the crowd, and pursuing the fleeing boy with everything he had.

End Chapter!

Next: Plot development!


	6. Dramatic, aren't we?

"Sean!" Lan shouted after the fleeing boy. "Sean! Wait! I just want to talk to you!"

The gray-haired boy glanced over his shoulder, but continued to run in the opposite direction. " Go away! I can't talk to you!"

"I suppose the fact that he even spoke to me is an improvement." The brunette hissed under his breath. The Net Saver glanced up, to see Sean approaching an intersection. Judging from the stale green lights, the signal was about to change. Since Sean had a head start, if Lan didn't catch him quick, he'd lose him when the lights changed.

"Sean, wait!" Lan shouted again, as he darted around a business man. It was useless, Sean was almost at the intersection, and Lan still had half a block to go.

And then fate intervened- in the form of a Battle Chip.

Lan saw the flying disk come out from behind the corner building of the block and crash into the 'Walk' button on the street light. In response, the lights cut immediately jumped to show red a few seconds earlier than normal- and because of that, Sean wouldn't be able to slip across the street.

Undaunted, however, the boy dashed around the corner and slipped out of Lan's view.

Determined not the lose the kid a second time, Lan stayed right on the boy's heels. The brunette whipped around the corner, and stopped in his tracks in surprise.

There, before his eyes, Chaud Blaze was fighting to maintain his grip on a struggling Sean's shoulders.

"Let- me- go!" The gray-haired boy screamed as he bucked and pulled in an effort to escape his captor.

"That's not an option." The double-haired boy tightened his grip on the squirming Sean. Turning his head, the Net Saver addressed his comrade. "Lan."

"Chaud." Lan stepped forward uncertainly. "Why- How'd you get involved in this?"

"It's simple, actually," Chaud moved his head to one side, allowing Sean's fist to fly harmlessly by his head. "He picked my pocket and made off with my wallet. I'd like it back."

"I don't have your lousy wallet!" Sean gave one last twist and then gave up trying to escape. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yes, you do." Chaud didn't release his grip. "Denying it will do no good."

"I- I didn't want to do it!" Tears began forming in Sean's eyes, while he kept his face pointed to the ground. "They made me. I- I had to!"

"Hey, now," Lan stepped forward and squatted down next to the crying boy. "There's nothing to cry over. If you're in some kind of trouble, we'll help you get out of it."

"I- I can't!" The gray-haired kid looked up, tears streaming down his face. "They'll hurt my sister!"

"What?" Lan scooted an inch closer. "Don't worry, we'll help you."

"Really?" Sean looked up, hope shining from behind his tears.

"Really."

"Thanks." The boy's countenance became threatening. "For helping me out!"

Sean's small, spindly arms suddenly flew forward, slamming into the squatting Lan's chest. Caught completely by surprise, the brunette lost his balance and tumbled over backward to land hard on his backside.

Acting immediately, in the split second that Chaud's focus was directed at Lan, the gray-haired boy twisted to one side and broke free of the Net Saver's grasp. Without a second's hesitation, the gray-haired kid dashed away and stumbled around a corner into an alleyway.

"Why that-!" Lan threw himself to his feet, and broke into pursuit.

"He's certainly an actor." Chaud nodded as he followed the brunette.

The partners whipped around the corner and slid to a stunned halt- Sean was nowhere in sight.

"What- where'd he go?" Lan took a few steps into the alleyway

Chaud glanced around, uncertain where his prey had gone. The alleyway was completely empty, except for a few trash cans and a dumpster set alongside the left wall.

Warily, the two Net Savers continued into the alley, their senses on high alert for any more tricks that Sean might have planned for them.

The two reached the center of the alley, when a loud beeping noise caught their attention.

Lan glanced over his shoulder, to see a large dump truck backing into the alley behind them. Evidently, it had come to collect the contents of the dumpster they had passed.

"Chaud, you don't suppose that Sean hid in that dumpster do you?" The brunette turned to his companion. "This is a perfect set-up for a rescue-the-kid-from-being-crushed routine."

"Lan, those kinds of things don't happen in normal life."

"Since when have our lives been normal?"

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Sean breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the Net Savers continue down the street, completely unaware of his presence. So the dumpster hadn't been his first place to hide, but it had proven effective.

The boy closed the lid completely, deciding to wait a few more moments before leaving his haven.

"That was a close one, Zero." The gray-haired boy panted as he stole a glance at his PET.

"Sean, I'm detecting a strange presence outside of this… receptacle." Zero was all business; something about this didn't feel quite right. "I advise we leave immediately."

"As soon as those Net Saver's are gone-" Sean broke his sentence off. Was it his imagination, or was the garbage beneath him… shifting?

The boy's eyes went wide as he realized what was happening. This was definitely not good. Dumpster diving was a dangerous art, because the trucks used to collect the trash were equipped with compacters to smash the refuse into flat sheets of garbage- and it didn't take much to realize what that kind of pressure could do to a human. The boy screamed in horror as his world dissolved into chaos. His scream was never heard over the roar of machinery.

"NO!" Futilely, Sean clawed at the garbage before him, unable to escape from the mound of trash that was burying him alive- in his own grave.

"I won't go like this!" The gray-haired kid gasped as his hand broke through into clear air. The bin was empty, and somehow he had miraculously been buried near the surface. He could escape, if he hurried…

Then he felt hit, Sean's breath stopped as he realized that a familiar bulge was missing from his pocket- his PET was missing- it must have slipped from his pocket when he tumbled into the truck.

"ZERO!" Abandoning his escape for the moment, the gray-haired boy turned and dove back into the truck, his hands digging through the garbage and filth in an effort to locate his Personal Terminal. "Zero! Where are you? ZERO!"

Sean's hand collided with a familiar object, his fingers instantly recognizing the marred surface of his PET. Hastily, he pulled the device from the rubbish and rushed back for the opening.

Inside of his PET, Zero stood silent in shock. His Net Op had passed up a chance to save himself, and come back to rescue him. Why? This was not the nature of humans… or so he had come to believe…

Sean was oblivious to this; he just continued to claw his way to the exit.

And then the compactor sealed the opening, preparing to start its cycle of destruction. The gray-haired boy was trapped- and about to die.

"This is it, Zero." Sean looked into his PET. It was only a matter of time before they were squashed flatter than a pancake. "At least… you're with me."

The door of steel began sliding closer, piling the trash along its surface. The door continued it's advance, preparing to flatten everything in the truck- including Sean.

Zero remained stunned, he'd never expected this kind of devotion. This was a human he would gladly go to deletion with…

And then the answer struck him.

The Navi checked on the position of the door. Already the trash was piling up around Sean and probably cutting painfully into his sides. The door was about halfway into the bin, meaning that they didn't have much time left. But that time might be enough.

"Sean, the Dimensional Chip. Slot it in!"

"And then you can get us out of here!"

There it was again. Zero stumbled over the word 'us', not 'me' but 'us'. Sean truly considered them a team.

"There's… just one problem…" The gray-haired boy strained at the garbage slowly burying him. "I… can't reach it… Or even… get it to you."

"Don't give up!" Zero shouted without even realizing it. "I'll get you out of here! Somehow…"

Sean looked up at the door, by now it was three-fourths of the way into the bin. It wouldn't be long now…

"Bye, Zero."

"SEAAAAAAAAN!"

And then it stopped.

Sean and the trash surrounding him jerked, as the door came to an early- yet welcome- stop.

"It- it stopped." The gray-haired boy glanced up at the door.

"And what's more." Zero's old stony personality returned, as his voice became deadpan. "It's moving back, you're going to escape."

"And so are you."

The boy looked up to see the compactor opening as the door opened. Abruptly, the mound of trash pinning him in place broke apart and scattered across the floor. Released from his prison, Sean tumbled forward and landed on the top of the refuse. Slowly the gray-haired boy looked up to see an all-too-familiar brunette looking down at him.

"Let me say this now," Lan peered back at Sean. "When we get you out of there, you are definitely getting a bath."


	7. Holy cow! Moo An update!

Harry: -smacks Web- Hey! Ya've let your stuff slide for da forum stuff!

Web: -rubs head- Can I help it if I'm overwhelmed? Between sprites, mascots, fiction, not to mention my twelve hour workday, I'm more than a little busy.

Harry: Dat's no excuse to let it go fer two weeks!

Web: Quit your griping, at least we've got a large update now. And Laza, this is Stream based. Stream has no plot, well it does, but a very poor one. Anyways, there's some major plot development in this large chapter.

Harry: So get on wid it already!

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"Well, what's your opinion?"

"You don't have opinions in a case like this." Salvia Nero, Net Saver Counselor, announced as she closed the door behind her. She had just come out of a long session with Sean, and Keifer, Manuela, Dr. Hikari, Lan and Chaud were all eager to here her results. "You have troubled children."

"Sean's an emotional wreck," Silvia glanced at each person in turn. "he's trying to bury his growing anger underneath a façade of happiness. Needless to say, that's not working very well, and it's only a matter of time before that anger boils over."

"Did he say what happened to him over the years?" Keifer voiced the point that foremost on his mind.

"Not directly," The counselor shook her head. "But I'm gathering that after he vanished from his less-than-caring guardians, some homeless person took him in and has been caring for him. Don't mark that as absolute truth, because I don't know for sure that that's the case."

"Very strange…" Manuela pondered the fuzzy story they had heard. "I get the feeling that there's something more here. Something that's lurking beneath the surface of this… case."

"We can sort that out later." Dr. Hikari allowed the father in him to come out. "What's going to happen to him now?"

"Well," Calling on her studies, Manuela tried to recall the answer. "If I remember correctly, Sean's technically still a ward of the state. Therefore, I assume that he'll be placed back in foster care."

"And that." Silvia broke into the conversation. "Is the last thing we need. Sean's confused, scared, and angry. That's a volatile combination. What he needs now is to stay with someone that he knows and relatively trusts, and it wouldn't hurt if he looked up to them somehow."

Lan suddenly became aware of the others looking at him and his father with very thoughtful expressions.

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"So, Sean, how's it going?"

Sean glanced up as Lan entered the 'Counseling Room' of the Net Saver's HQ; although in the boy's opinion, the Counseling Room was the exact same thing as a prison. He couldn't leave, and he had no freedom here.

"What do you care?" The gray-haired kid muttered as he tried his best to avoid looking at the brunette.

"Uh," Knowing full well that reading other people's emotions was not his strong point, Lan tried his best to say the right thing- and still managed to screw it up completely. "I care a lot."

"Then why'd you let that skunk-haired freak bring me here?" Sean spun around to gaze daggers at his only companion. "Huh?"

"If by 'skunk-haired freak' you're referring to Chaud," The brunette dropped all pretence of treading lightly and decided to break Sean's angry spirit- Lan Hikari style. "then I can agree with that description. But the truth of the matter is that when you dropped into my lap we found out who you were and got worried since no one's heard from you in two years. So of course we found you and brought you here so that we could help!"

"If you'd really cared you'd have left me alone!" The gray-haired kid was practically screaming now.

"If we didn't care, we'd have just had you arrested for stealing Chaud and my dad's wallets!" Lan retorted, not bothering to hide his anger. "Instead of dropping those charges!"

"I didn't ask you for help! All I want is to be left alone! Thanks to you, I'm going to get sent back to those- those jerks. Maybe thing's aren't easy with Scratch, but anything's better than being stuck with those abusers!"

Lan opened his mouth to shout something back, but a quick warning from MegaMan caused him to change his outburst into an attempt at making peace.

"Look, we aren't going to send you back." The brunette stepped closer and laid a gentle hand on the rebellious kid's shoulder. "My dad and I want you to come and stay with us for a while- as long as you promise not to run away again."

Sean blinked in amazement, shock, disbelief, and several other emotions. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that sentence- never before had anyone actually cared for him enough to take him in… It was almost too good to be true.

Which meant that it probably was.

"You're lying." The boy tried unsuccessfully to glare in anger at Lan. "You're just going to dump me back in that foster home."

"I'm not lying, am I MegaMan?" The brunette turned to his Navi for support.

"He's telling you the truth, Sean." The Blue Bomber called out from his PET. "We'll be glad to have you come and stay with us. Besides, I've already e-mailed Lan's mother to tell her we've got company coming, and if I know her, she's already cooking spaghetti and meatballs for you. Award winning meat sauce included. "

Sean bit his lip, how in the world did these people know he loved spaghetti?

Although dense, Lan wasn't oblivious, he could tell that Sean was weakening. Now it was time to seal the deal, so to speak.

"By the way," The brunette reached into his pocket, "I couldn't help but notice that your PET's a little… used, so I went ahead and picked this up for you."

The gray-haired kid gasped in amazement as the Net Saver produced a shiny new Progress PET. It's color scheme was of simple red and black, and as Lan turned it over in his hands, Sean could see his name etched into the back housing.

"Here." Lan offered the Terminal to his companion. "It's yours."

"Are- are you serious?"

"Of course I am."

The boy slowly reached out, and took the offered PET. "Um… thank you."

"Don't mention it." Lan grinned and then pinched his nose with his thumb and index finger. "Now, let's get you home so that you can get that bath!"

And for the first time in many months, Sean dropped his guard- and laughed from the heart.

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"I've never seen anyone eat that fast before." Haruka Hikari struggled to keep from staring across the table at Sean as the boy practically inhaled his food.

"He's giving Lan a run for his money," Yuichirou whispered back.

Indeed, if one didn't know better, one would have assumed that Sean and Lan were racing each other to see who could consume the most food the faster. Sean was obviously putting away food as if this were his first real meal in ages and relishing every moment of it- all of which caused Haruka to wonder just what the boy's eating habits had been. Sean was incredibly skinny, and the mother suspected that he hadn't been eating, or hadn't been fed, very well recently.

"Seconds, please?" The gray-haired boy sighed with delight as he scarfed down the last bite on his plate.

"More like your seventh." Lan gave up trying to finish his plate and leaned back in his chair, enjoying the feeling of a full stomach. "I'm done."

Instantly, the boy was eyeing Lan's half-full plate. "Are you going-"

The brunette didn't wait for him to finish, he merely pushed the plate over to his companion, and then watched in amazement as Sean attacked the leftovers.

"Man, where does it all go?" Lan watched the kid in amazement. "I don't see how you can hold so much."

"Mmm…" Sean hummed with delight and then wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his borrowed clothes. After getting the promised, and he'd admit, delightful, bath; Lan had dug out some of his old clothes for Sean to wear. Despite the best of the brunette's efforts, the clothes still hung from Sean's body as they were much too big for him. "This is delicious."

"Well, thank you." Haruka smiled warmly.

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"The old guy's really going to have our heads for this." Slim muttered bitterly. "You saw what he did to Sean last time, what's he going to do to us?"

"I'm not worried about a thing." Gregory leaned his back against the hallway wall and folded his arms. "He won't dare touch us."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"I've got my resources."

Before Slim could inquire as to just what those were- a booming voice called for them.

Slim sighed, then marched forward to meet his destiny- or death as the case may be. Opening the doorway to Scratch's meeting room, the two teens peered inside to see the shadowy outline of a bulky figure standing in the room.

"Enter."

Slim and Gregory did as they were told. Together they entered the room and stopped at a very respectful, and healthy, distance from the figure.

"What's this I hear about Sean missing?"

"He ran off." Gregory snapped back, "like he normally does. I didn't see any special need to go looking for him since he always turns up here. He's only been gone for a couple of hours."

"Over six hours, which is too long in my book. And do you know where he is?"

"Uh, no." Slim muttered bitterly.

"Then we have a problem don't we?" The figure continued, "And we have a failure. You two have failed, and I do not tolerate failure."

"I still think that the kid's just wandering around out there, he'll come back eventually." The stocky teen grumbled.

"I didn't make it this far in life by leaving things to chance." The figure continued. "And I should punish you both right now, but you've done good work in the past, so I am willing to give you a chance to correct this… oversight."

Slim breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you-"

"Just get out there, find Sean, and bring him back!" Scratch roared in fury. "And don't you dare come back here without him!"

"If you ask me, it was a mistake bringing him here in the first-" Gregory's statement died in mid-sentence. One moment Scratch had been on one side of the room, and the next he was smacking the stocky teen on the face.

The bulky teen shook his head, stunned both by the pain on his face, and the fact that the old man had moved so fast.

"Don't you EVER question my authority." Scratch glared at the rebellious teen. ""I'm giving you a chance to correct your mistake. I suggest that you take it. Dismissed."

Slim hastily left the room. Gregory slowly walked away- glaring at Scratch the entire time.

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"I have to admit, those look good on you." Lan studied the gray-haired kid Sean stepped out of their shared room in his new clothes.

Sean bit his lip to keep from loosing control over his emotions. After supper last night, the Hikari's had taken him out shopping for clothes that fit- and they had paid for everything without expecting him to pay them back. After a lot of hesitation, Sean had chosen a pair of black slacks, a 'hoody' sweatshirt, and a pair of tennis shoes.

But all that had been yesterday, and Sean was bracing himself for something, anything, to happen and ruin things.

"All right then," Lan nodded his approval. "Are you ready to go?"

"Uh, go where?"

"Didn't I tell you?" The brunette blinked in surprise, before realizing that he had in fact forgotten to let Sean in on the plans for the day. "I guess that I didn't. Maylu wanted to meet you. So I arranged for us to meet them at the park today."

"Are- are you sure that she want to meet… me?"

"Of course I'm sure." The brunette grabbed his PET, slid it into his belt holster and then tossed Sean his terminal. "You're my friend, and any friend of mine is a friend of hers. Let's go."

"If you say so." Sean slowly pocketed his PET and then followed Lan out the door.

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"Hey, Lan!" Maylu caught sight of the brunette and his companion coming down the path. "Over here!"

Lan shouted back a reply, and then broke into a run. Sean struggled to keep up, his short legs making it difficult for him to maintain Lan's breakneck pace.

A few seconds later, the brunette Net Saver came to a stop in front of his friends. Several seconds later, Sean managed to catch up to them.

"Hey,." Lan cast a blanket greeting over to Maylu. Then he quickly turned and put his hand on Sean's shoulder to begin the round of introductions.

"Sean, this is Maylu." The brunette coordinated a handshake between the girl and the boy, before turning to point out his other two friends. " Maylu, Sean."

"Hello, Sean." The redhead greeted the boy and held out her hand.

"Hi." Although the gray-haired kid's eyes flicked about to indicate his uneasiness, he did shake the girl's hand.

"By the way." Maylu pulled out her PET and raised it so that Sean could look inside. "This is Roll."

"Hi, Sean." The pink Navi called out cheerfully, "It's nice to meet you."

"Uh," Sean pulled out his PET and raised it. "This is Zero."

The red Navi nodded curtly, but didn't say anything.

With that, silence descended on the group. For the next several moments, there was an awkward pause as everyone tried to figure out where to take the conversation next.

Minutes passed before Maylu found a way to end the embarrassing silence.

"I heard that there was some kind of new shop opening up on Beach Street today." The redhead said. "I was planning on dropping by sometime, would you two like to come with me?"

"Sure," Lan shrugged and cast a glance at his gray-haired friend. "What do you say, Sean?"

The boy shrugged uneasily and muttered something to the effect of: "Why not?"

The brunette cast a wary glance at Sean, what was his problem? Last night he had been laughing and really enjoying himself, now he seemed withdrawn and terrified.

"I guess that's a 'yes' then."

"It's this way." Maylu gestured to her right, "I'll show you how to get there."

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Lan, Maylu, and Sean slowed to a stop in front of the shiny new building. The design of the building didn't really fit the Den Tech City architecture, because of that fact, the store stood out from the surrounding area and drew wanted attention to itself.

Lan stared at the building for several seconds. He'd seen that design somewhere before, but where?

With a start, the brunette realized that while he had been meditating on the store's familiarity, Maylu and Sean were entering the shop and leaving him behind.

"Hey, wait for me!" The Net Saver hastily scrambled through the doorway and caught up with his friends.

Almost as soon as he exploded into the store, Lan stopped dead in his tracks as a familiar voice called out to him.

"If it isn't Lan Hikari!"

"Wait a minute." The brunette's eyes slid over to see a raven-haired girl wearing sandals, jeans, a tank top, and a ridiculous-looking robe standing behind the front counter of the store. Lan blinked, thinking that perhaps his eyes were playing tricks on him. However, when he opened his eyes, she was still there. "Tamako!"

"The one and only!" The raven-haired girl vaulted over the counter, hit the floor on the other side, and took off down the aisle to greet her friends.

"I can't believe that it's really you!" A huge grin plastered itself over Lan's face. "Man, how's it going?"

"Terrific." Tamako slid to a stop before the trio of friends. "I've finally scratched together enough funds to branch out and open up a shop here in Den Tech. Since I haven't had a decent Net battle in forever, I figured that I'd open up shop down here and hope that I'd run into you, and I did. By the way, who's shorty?"

"'Shorty?'" Lan glanced over his shoulder, trying to make sense of Tamako's reference.

Sean frowned as he realized that Tamako was referring to him.

"This is Sean." Maylu came to the rescue by introducing the gray-haired kid. "He's staying with Lan."

Lan immediately recognized the smirk creeping over Tamako's face- he'd only seen it about a hundred times in his life. From the looks of things, the raven-haired woman was about to challenge Sean to a Net battle on her usual terms.

"So, Sean, how about a Net battle?"

Yep, Tamako had issued her usual challenge.

The gray-haired boy's eyes narrowed as he considered the option.

"Be careful, Sean." Maylu hastily whispered into Sean's ear. "Whenever Tamako battles, there's always some kind of bet in play."

Sean nodded briefly and then looked up at his challenger. "Don't call me 'shorty', and I accept."

"Since I'm in a good mood today, I'll even out the odds." Tamako grinned in anticipation of an easy victory. "I'll take you and Lan on at once."

"I'm in." Lan nodded. "All right, what's the stakes? If I know you, Tamako, you've got a wager in mind."

"You know me too well." The raven-haired girl nodded and pointed to an ancient lamp standing on the display case. "Three Metal Cracker Fudge cookies for that lamp."

Lan shot a look at Sean, who nodded his approval.

"You're on!" The brunette and gray-haired kid accepted the invitation in unison.

"Then get ready, because I'm going to leave you begging for mercy!" Tamako whipped out her Progress PET, attached her Custom Grip and then leveled the device at a nearby computer system. "Jack in, MetalMan, Power up!"

"All right!" Lan attached his own Custom Grip and then snapped his right arm, bearing the PET, out to his side before raising the device overhead. In one swift motion he dropped the terminal to chest level and hit the 'transmit' button. "Jack in, MegaMan, Power up! Let's get some free samples!"

Sean nodded as he whipped out his PET. Deftly, the boy spun the device on his palm and tossed it into the air. The spinning Personal Terminal sailed up over Sean's head, where he caught it with his left hand and snapped the PET to chest level. "Jack in… Zero! Power up!"

Three beams of laser lights shot out of the individual PET's and sped into the jack-in sensor of the computer.

With the required burst of light, the three Navi's materialized in the computer system.

"Hey, MetalMan." MegaMan grinned at his longtime friend. "Nice to see you again."

The metallic Navi nodded back, a slight grin tracing his lips. "Great to see you too. I'm looking forward to a decent Net battle."

"If it's a Net battle you want," Zero clenched his right hand, causing his right forearm to transform into a long green blade. "It's a Net battle I'll give you."

"MetalMan, this is Zero." The Bomber made the quick round of introductions. "Zero, MetalMan."

Zero nodded in recognition at his opponent, while MetalMan expressed his greetings.

"Now, " The sword-wielding Navi raised his blade defensively. "Let the battle begin."

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"Maybe with Tamako hanging around here." Lan glanced over his shoulder at the store as they trotted off down the sidewalk. "Things will liven up."

"If things got any livelier, I don't know if we could handle it." Maylu shrugged.

An unintelligible mumble came from Sean, as he hastily devoured the cookie he had won in their Net battle with Tamako. He had to admit, the crazy woman wasn't that bad- and she made an amazing fudge cookie.

"So, where to next?" The brunette paused and waited on a red light. "We still have some daylight left to burn."

"Maybe we should check up on Higsby." Maylu pondered over the various options they had at their disposal. "I've heard that some strange things were going on over at his shop."

"What kind of things?"

"According to Catherine, Higsby let her brother walk out of his shop with a level five Break Hammer- at twenty-five percent off."

"Twenty-five percent off?" Lan repeated in bewilderment. "You mean that Higsby's having a… a sale? A sale on his Battle Chips?"

Maylu nodded, then checked to make sure that Sean was still with them. Sure enough, the gray-haired kid was just a few steps behind them.

"I guess… that's unusual?" Sean hesitantly entered into the conversation.

"Unusual?" The brunette repeated, surprise still infecting his voice. "Higsby having a sale on his Chips is like Tamako Net battling with nothing at stake. It's unheard of! What could drive him to do something like this?"

Maylu nodded. "You're right, let's go check up on him."

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The door to Higsby's Chip Shop flew open, allowing Lan, Maylu and Sean to enter the store. No sooner had they taken two steps into the small shop than they stopped dead in their tracks in shock.

Higsby was dancing around the front register with two packs of Zenny in his hands.

The three friends just stood there in shocked awe as Higsby gyrated back and forth screaming something that vaguely resembled 'Oney'.

"Is anyone else really, really scared right now?" Lan unsuccessfully tried to pry his eyes away from the horrible sight.

"I'm more or less terrified right now." Maylu nodded slowly.

"Is he- always like this?" Sean unconsciously stepped closer to Lan as he observed the lunatic before him.

"He's always been crazy," The brunette replied, "Just not… this crazy."

At that exact moment, the chip nerd stopped his dance with one foot still in the air, finally noticing the trio watching him in horror.

Visibly embarrassed, Higsby hastily snapped his Zenny-bearing hands behind his back in an attempt to regain some of his lost dignity.

"Oh, hi, Lan… Maylu… Other guy…" The chip nerd's face turned beet red. "I was just… uh… exercising! It's part of my new way of life, and… uh… you aren't buying that explanation are you?"

"Nope." Lan shook his head. "All right, Higsby, what gives? You've been acting incredibly strange recently."

"Uh…" The brunette chip lover studied the trio for a moment and then snatched a newspaper off of the front register and help it up for all to see. "There! Do you see that? It's the best news I've had all year!"

Maylu stepped forward and read the headline. "Chip Line Announces Bankruptcy: business will close it's doors in one week."

"The Chip Line?" Sean's eyes widened. "Aren't they the biggest retail supplier of Battle Chips?"

"And most of my competition." Higsby nodded eagerly. "They're no longer going to be in Den Tech selling their chips! Which of course means that my business is finally picking up steam-"

"In other words, you're in the black ink for the first time in your business life." Lan interjected.

"Exactly…" The brunette nerd blinked as he realized what he had just agreed with. "… Anyway, things have been going so well that it's put me in such a good mood that I can't help myself, I'm giving away Battle Chips at twenty-five percent off!"

Lan gaped in open astonishment. "Who are you and what have you done to Higsby?"

"I'm serious." Higsby nodded eagerly. "I'm in such a good mood that I'll let you have any Chip for a discount."

A smirk played across Lan's lips. "Including that North Wind?"

"I'm not in that good of a mood."

Losing interest in the conversation, Sean slipped away from the others and began browsing through the aisles of Battle Chips. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Higsby. Everything about the man screamed: NERD, but there was something likable about the guy…

But there would be time to worry about that later. Sean shoved the thoughts out of his mind as he began looking over the rows and rows of Battle Chips. He'd actually been this close to so many Battle Chips before. Swords, Blasters, Bombs, Viruses, it was all there.

And then he saw it. There, sitting on the top left shelf was the Chip Lan had referred to back during his talk with Higsby: the North Wind.

Sean stepped closer, his eyes scanning over the properties of that particular chip. The North Wind was capable of blowing away any barrier or aura, even Dark Auras.

The gray-haired boy could see why Lan would want that chip. It could be very useful, especially against Darkloids.

Sean stared at the chip, mixed feeling running through his mind. He owed Lan and his family for what they had done for him. That Chip wouldn't be very much, but at least it would be some kind of repayment…

The problem was, Sean didn't have a dime to his name.

But that had never stopped him before… Before he'd always taken whatever it was that he needed or wanted. The gray-haired kid's hand started to rise, instinctively wanting to pluck that chip from the rack.

The memory of Lan chasing after him over his father's wallet exploded into his mind. Lan would never accept a stolen gift… but if he didn't know that it was stolen… Sean could always just say that he had found it… That he'd been holding onto it and that he had heard Lan mention it to Higsby and…

Sean's eyes flicked over to the others, they were still chatting and paying no attention to him at all.

The boy nodded, his mind was made up.

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"I guess we should be on our way, it's about time for you to close for lunch." Lan closed the conversation and realized that one member of their clan was missing. "Sean? Sean!"

"Over here!" The gray-haired kid called out, as he stepped out of one of the aisles and into view once more.

"Are you ready? We're about ready to leave." Maylu glanced at the boy, indicating that she was talking to him.

"I guess so." Sean shrugged and headed over to his friends. As he did so, a loud gurgling sound exploded from the boy's stomach. The boy's face turned a deep shade of crimson as he realized that his stomach was growling-indicating that he was hungry. "Uh… sorry…"

"Don't worry about it." The brunette Net saver grinned slightly, "I'm getting kind of hungry myself."

"It is getting late, we should probably head for lunch soon." Maylu stole a look at her PET and noted the time.

"I'll tell you what," Higsby motioned towards to the side exit. "To celebrate, I'll take you out to lunch."

This time Lan and Maylu gaped at the chip nerd in open amazement. Higsby offering to take someone, aside from Ms. Mari, out to lunch was downright unheard of.

"Are you serious?" The brunette regained control of himself. "You're going to take us out to eat?"

"Sure, but I'm only driving." Higsby grinned mischievously.

"What? You're not buying?"

"I'm not in that good of mood."

Admitting defeat in that aspect, the trio decided to take the nerd up on his offer- and then try to weasel a meal out of him.

Following the adult brunette's lead, Lan, Maylu, and Sean left the building and piled into the back of an ancient brown and white clunker that just barely passed for a car.

"Ugh," Lan shoved himself into the far left seat to make room for his other two friends. A quick examination of the car revealed that it had definitely seen better days. "Maybe we'd be better off on the bus."

"Quit your whining and be glad that I'm even driving you there." Higsby slid behind the driver's seat and put his key in the ignition.

"Even when he's generous, Higsby's a cheapskate." The brunette Net Saver muttered as Sean squeezed himself into the back seat.

As Maylu started to enter the vehicle, Higsby turned the key to start the car. No sooner had the engine fired to life than the car exploded into motion. Without warning or time for the others to realize what was happening, the car took off and began tearing down the street.

"Maylu!"

Completely off-guard at the car's sudden motion, Maylu was caught half-in and half-outside the vehicle. Despite a desperate attempt by Lan and Sean to catch her, the redhead was hurled from the vehicle and sent tumbling to the ground.

The brunette's chest tightened as Maylu's head struck the pavement with a sickening thud; Lan tried to leap out of the vehicle to go to her aid. Unfortunately, the door slammed shut on his attempt to bail-out and locked itself tight. There was nothing he could do as the car raced on leaving her behind.

"Higsby!" Barely attempting to keep his anger under control, Lan whirled around to glare at the chip nerd. "What do you think you're doing?"

"It's not me!" The brunette adult threw his hands up to emphasize that he wasn't in control of the vehicle. "The car's driving itself! It's out of control!"

Lan wormed his way up to peer into the front seats, as Higsby had claimed, the steering wheel and pedals were working themselves without any human intervention.

"The car's Network is out of control!"

Sean leaned forward and peered down the road… they were approaching an intersection at what had to be twenty miles over the speed limit- meaning that if they actually entered the intersection at this speed, the medics would be picking them up with spoons.

"Then we'll just have to fix it." Lan pulled his PET off of his belt. "Because we've got to get back there and make sure that Maylu's OK."

"I'm with you, Lan." Sean whipped out his Progress PET. "Let's do it!"

"Jack in, MegaMan, Power Up! Time for a crash course in auto repair!"

"Jack in, Zero! Power Up! Did you have to say 'crash'?"

Two beams of light exploded out of the PET's and raced through the air into the car's Jack in sensor as MegaMan and Zero entered the car's network.

A split second later and the two Navi's had rematerialized inside of the car's computer. One quick look around and MegaMan and Zero were struggling to keep their jaws from dropping to the floor.

"I've never seen this many viruses before…" The Bomber looked around in shocked disbelief.

MegaMan and Zero glanced around, taking in the sight before them. Sure enough, a literal flood of viruses were roaming about the Network, causing glitches and destruction everywhere.

"This is strange." The Blue Bomber glanced around at the various viruses, they all appeared to be of the fire variety.

"Strange or not," Zero's words were just barely above an unintelligible growl. "We have to take them out. Z Saber!"

The red Navi clenched his fist, causing his right forearm to transform into his default green sword. With a battle cry, the swordsman leapt at the nearest candle, his blade singing through the air.

"Right behind you. Mega Buster!" MegaMan held his right hand out as it changed into his blaster. Instantly he had leveled his weapon at a random Met and cut loose, his firepower filling the air.

Their attack did not go unnoticed, however. Quickly a group of Spikeys gathered and launched a counterattack at the invading Navis.

With a very high-pitched squeal, that vaguely sounded like 'Wild Rush', a Spikey suddenly shot through the air, intending to head butt Zero. The swordsman saw the move coming in plenty of time, and leapt forward to delete his opponent. Zero's sword shot through the virus, impaling it.

Nearby, MegaMan had found himself surrounded by a group of Candles. The creatures had circled him in a ring formation and were preparing to incinerate him.

The Bomber studied his situation, trying to figure a way out of this mess.

"Hang on!" Lan whipped a couple of chips out of his folder and shoved it into his PET. "Barrier, Aqua Sword, Battle Chips in! Download!"

MegaMan dropped to a crouch as the Barrier chip took effect, creating a field of energy around him. His move was just in time as the viruses unleashed their fire attacks on him. However, due to the Barrier, the flames struck the field of energy and fizzled out of existence without harming the Bomber.

Unfortunately, now it was MegaMan's turn to attack. The blue Navi thrust out his arm as a water tank materialized on his wrist, which grew a blue blade. With a shout, the Bomber slammed his sword into the floor, sending a powerful tidal wave racing across the Network and wiping out the candles.

Sean glanced out the front windshield and realized that they were drawing close to the intersection. "Hurry, Zero! Variable Sword, Battle Chip in! Download!"

Zero summoned the arrow-shaped sword and ducked his head to avoid a blast of flame from a Spikey. Instantly the swordsman had reared himself up to his full height and had swept his blade through the air, a curved arc of energy erupted from his sword and cleaved through the air- and the virus.

"Almost done!" MegaMan spun around, his Aqua Sword slicing through an Met that had been creeping up on him. Next, the blue Navi slammed his blade into the floor, unleashing a flood of water on an approaching Spikey.

"Their numbers are dwindling." Zero caught sight of a fireball flying towards him. With a sweep of his sword he cleaved the explosive projectile in two. The two halves of the blast disintegrated, clearing the way for the swordsman to rush in and destroy the virus targeting him. "We'll have this finished before long."

Lan's eyes slid up to look out the window, they were within two blocks of the intersection- and he really didn't want to wind up as someone's hood ornament.

"We're running out of time!" The brunette fished three chips out of his folder. "We have to put a stop to this now!"

"I hear you, Lan." The Bomber deactivated his Aqua Sword and waited for the combo he knew was coming.

"Cannon, Battle Chip in! Hi Cannon, Battle Chip in!" Lan shoved the three Battle Chips into his PET, watching as the device registered the approaching upgrade. "Mega Cannon, Battle Chip In! Program Advance Activated!"

The Bomber snapped his arms out wide, as two blasters appeared on his wrists. Then, MegaMan raised the cannons above his head as the three chips began to fuse into one more powerful weapon. A glow of light built up around the cannons, as they combined into one more powerful red and blue weapon.

Dropping his arms to chest level, MegaMan set his sights on the remaining viruses and fired. A blast of plasma energy exploded out of his cannon and swept through the air, and the hostile programs. An explosion rocked the area as the energy slammed into the viruses and detonated.

"And that takes care of that!" The brunette Net Op smirked in satisfaction as a cloud of digital smoke covered the display of his PET screen.

"No, it didn't!" Higsby grabbed the steering wheel and tried to apply the breaks. The car was unresponsive, refusing to slow down or allow the chip nerd to change it's direction.

"What?" Lan shot a look out the window, they were right on top of the intersection. "There must still be a glitch in the system! MegaMan, see if you can track it down!"

"We're out of time!" Sean eye's widened in horror as the car exploded into the intersection. The gray-haired kid looked out his window and closed his eyes tight.

Lan looked out his window to see a semi bearing down on them. There was no way the huge truck would be able to stop in time, it was all but guaranteed that it would hit them.

Lan closed his eyes and braced himself for the deadly impact.

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And then a miracle happened- or at least an event which resembled one. A burst of speed exploded through Higsby's jalopy, allowing them to just barely squeak past the semi and fly through the intersection unharmed.

"Whew…" Lan breathed a quick sigh of relief, before sobering. They were still trapped in an out-of-control vehicle that was sure to crash sooner or later- the only question was when. "MegaMan, have you found the glitch yet?"

"Yeah." The Bomber's voice came out as a rough grunt. "Or rather, he found us."

The brunette and his companion looked into their PET's, to see MegaMan and Zero ducking past a ball of flame.

And then Lan spotted the other Net Navi in the Network. The rogue Navi was black and red, and more or less skeletal. It's body was nothing but a red ball with spindly back arms and legs shooting out of it's body, round disks were set every so far apart on its limbs. And the Navi slumped forward, it's posture vaguely resembling that of an ape.

"He claims to be FlameMan." The Blue Bomber filled his op in, "And that he's the one behind this mayhem."

"Then we'll just have to douse this fire." The brunette glanced at Sean, who nodded in support. "Here we go. Aqua Sword, Battle Chip in! Download!"

"Aqua Blade," Sean whipped the proper chip out of his folder and spun it around on his finger before inserting it into his terminal. "Battle Chip in, Download!"

MegaMan clenched his fist as his forearm transformed into a water tank with a glowing blue blade projecting from the tank. Zero mimicked the motion, but his weapon was a standard hilt with a swept blue blade.

The Bomber and Swordsman leapt in separate directions, dividing the number of targets that their opponent would have to aim for.

"I'll fry you!" FlameMan dropped his jaw, as a spark of flame appeared in the back of his throat. A split second later, a blast of flame had exploded from his mouth and was shooting through the air towards Zero. "Flame Breath!"

The red Navi hit the ground and looked up to see the swirling mass of flame barreling towards him. There wasn't time to avoid the attack, Zero braced himself for impact.

"Burn!" The fiery Navi screeched.

The Flame Breath slammed into the swordsman, exploding into a cloud ofdust that blanketed the area.

FlameMan glanced about warily, trying to discern where his opponents were.

On his left, the misty dustparted. Zero exploded from the cloud of water vapor, his sword slicing at his opponent.

A gasp slipped from the swordsman's lips as his blade crashed against FlameMan's arm- and stopped without even scratching his opponent.

"This is impossible." The red Navi blinked in veiled surprise.

"I can redefine 'impossible'." The fire Navi growled as he snapped his arm around, sending Zero flying backward through the air.

"All right, let's smother this candle." Lan jammed a chip into his PET. "Time Bomb, Battle Chip in! Download!"

The Bomber held out his right hand as the cylindrical explosive appeared in his palm. Snapping his arm around in a tight arc, MegaMan hurled the bomb through the air at the renegade.

The fiery Navi didn't even flinch, hastily he parted his jaws and dispelled a fireball. His attack shot through the air and collided with the Time Bomb, destroying it with ease.

MegaMan's eyes widened in horror as the fireball burst through the explosion and continued on its course towards him. There wasn't time to dodge, the Navi didn't have a choice but to throw his arms over his head and brace himself for impact.

The fireball rammed into him, hurling the Bomber backward through the air for a few seconds before dropping him to the floor.

"Hurry, Zero!" Sean glanced out the window to the next rapidly approaching intersection. "Wide Sword, Battle Chip in! Download"

The swordsman clenched his wrist as the aforementioned blade appeared around his wrist. Launching himself through the air, Zero flew at his opponent and prepared to strike.

"BURN!" FlameMan turned to counter his opponent's attack. With another blast of flame, the fire Navi blew Zero backward.

"Uh," MegaMan forced himself to his feet- that fireball packed a punch. "Lan, this isn't working. We can't even get close to FlameMan… working separately…"

The brunette glanced at Sean, who looked his partner and nodded slightly.

"If we can't take him apart, we'll have to work together." The gray-haired kid agreed as he looked into his PET. "Zero, work with MegaMan."

"As you wish, Sean." The Swordsman nodded with barely detectable reluctance.

"All right then, let's take him down!" Lan snapped another chip into his terminal. "Ice Ball, Battle Chip in!"

Instantly a spherical blue ball appeared in MegaMan's free hand. With a snap of his wrist the blue Navi sent the projectile spinning through the air at his opponent.

FlameMan hauled himself back onto his two back legs and hauled his fist backward in preparation to strike. When the Ice Ball came in range, the fire Navi sent his arm ramming into the projectile, which immediately detonated on contact, covering the Navi's arm with a thick sheet of ice.

The fire Navi growled in annoyance and shook his hand fiercely in an effort to free it.

"Now!" Sean slammed another chip into his terminal. "Samaria Sword, Battle Chip in!"

Zero's right arm snapped back as the lethal blade formed about his wrist. The swordsman exploded into the air, leaping through space towards his immobilized opponent.

Unfortunately, the red Navi picked that exact moment to unleash a blast of flame on his frozen body. The fire instantly melted away the ice, freeing FlameMan to turn and counter his opponent's attack.

FlameMan snapped his head up and sent a breath of fire racing up at Zero.

"Watch out!" Sean screamed in warning.

"Gotcha covered. Area Steal, Cold Body, Battle Chips in!" Lan inserted the cartridge. "Download!"

Zero glanced over his shoulder to see MegaMan materializing behind his back.

"Hope you don't mind the assist." The Bomber tensed his body for a moment then snapped his limbs out spread-eagle as he activated the Cold Body. A blast of icy wind exploded from the Navi's body and swept around Zero to demolish the fireball targeting the red Navi.

"At the moment, I am willing to accept your assistance." Zero turned and resumed his downward lunge at his opponent. The Navi's arm struck out, gunning for the hostile Net Navi.

The deadly blade cut through the air, and FlameMan's right arm.

FlameMan hauled onto his back legs and roared in pain as he gripped his wounded arm. Just as Zero had hoped, the fiery Navi had forgotten all about defending himself from their attacks and was focusing intently on nursing his wounds.

"MegaMan, now!"

"We'll take it from here!" Lan inserted two new battle Chips into his PET. "Aqua Soul Battle Chip in! Bubble Shot, Battle Chip in!"

As soon as the Chip data was registered in the Personal Terminal, MegaMan's armor transformed into it's Aqua Soul state. Clear water tanks appeared around his forearms and forelegs, with pads projecting out of the said tanks to cover his knees and elbows. His helmet also transformed into a domed water tank.

Quickly the Bomber raised his right arm to bear at his opponent, as a gray and purple water cannon locked into place about his wrist.

Lan looked out the front window. They were coming to another intersection, and since the lights were already switching to yellow, there was no possible way they'd survive this crossing.

"Time to end this." MegaMan looked down his cannon's barrel as he steadied his aim. With a cry of 'Bubble Shot!' he fired. A bubble of water exploded out of his cannon and sped through the air towards his opponent.

His shot hit home. The bubble rammed into FlameMan and exploded into a mass of watery liquid that washed over his opponent. The fiery Navi howled in fury and pain as he took the brunt of the attack.

Sean glanced out the window, they were closing in way too fast on this intersection for his liking.

"We don't have time for this!" The brunette slammed another chip into his terminal. "Bubble Side, Battle Chip in! Download!"

Instantly MegaMan's tapered cannon was replaced with a round Buster-like weapon. Without delay, the Bomber snapped his weapon up and fired. "Bubble Side!"

Another bubble sped out of the Blue Navi's cannon and sped through the air before erupting into four streams of water that shot through the air and crashed into FlameMan.

"I won't… lose!" FlameMan screamed in pained fury. "I'll tear you limb from limb!"

"And I've had enough of this."

FlameMan screamed in agony one last time, and then exploded into pixels of data as he was forced to log out of the Network.

MegaMan, his Aqua Soul armor dissolving, blinked as he spotted Zero deactivating his green blade. Apparently the swordsman had circled around behind the fire Navi and cleaved him in two while the renegade's focus was on MegaMan.

"You're all clear Lan!" MegaMan shouted back to his Net Op.

"Higsby, you're back in control! Stop!"

Sean glanced out the front window… the intersection was within two blocks. They were going into this on a wing and a prayer.

A squeal filled the air as Higsby slammed his foot down on the brake pedal- causing the tires to scream in protest as the brakes locked.

"We'll never make it!" Sean flattened himself against his seat, there was no way they'd be able to stop in time at this speed.

"Here we go again!" Lan snapped his eyes shut and braced himself for the unavoidable crash.

End Chapter!


	8. A chase scene

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"Higsby, don't take this personally." Lan grumbled as he rubbed his sore shoulder, "But I don't think I'll ever ride with you again."

"I agree with Lan." Sean muttered. "No meal is worth what we just went through… Except for maybe Mrs. Hikari's spaghetti."

As near as they could figure out, Higsby had slammed on the brakes as soon as FlameMan had been defeated. Miraculously the cars on the intersecting street had been spaced out just right for them to slip through the red light without causing a wreck and then fishtail to a stop. As a result, they were bruised, battered, weary, but alive; and that was much better than the alternative.

Lan breathed another sigh of relief, he felt like he had exhausted a year's supply of luck in this little adventure.

And then he remembered- Maylu, she'd been thrown from the car when all this chaos had started. He had to get back there and make sure that she was wasn't hurt… or even worse…

"Higsby!" The brunette threw his door open and tumbled out of his seat and onto the pavement. "I'm going back for Maylu, stay here until the Police arrive."

"Err, right…." Higsby nodded uncertainly.

Not wasting another second, Lan leapt into the air and snatched his roller-blade accessories off of his backpack. Snapping his arms down, he clipped the blades onto his shoes and hit the ground skating. "See ya in a few!"

"Whoa." The gray-haired kid's eyes went wide. "I've got to learn how to do that!"

The brunette Net battler took off at a fast clip, sailing over the ground and leaving Sean behind.

It was hard for Lan to believe that they had covered so much ground in such a short time. Their little adventure had taken them much farther into Den Tech than he'd realized, and it was making the trip back up to Maylu feel like it was taking forever.

But the brunette kept racing on, sooner or later he'd get back to her. He just had to keep going.

Minutes stretched on, turning into a half-hour.

Finally, the brunette spotted the alleyway next to Higsby's shop, where this entire mess had originated. As he whizzed around the corner, Lan went into a small hop to remove his roller-blades. The Net Saver's feet hit the ground, as his eyes spotted Maylu.

The redhead was still lying on the ground and although he couldn't be sure, Lan didn't think that she had moved in his absence.

The back of Lan's mind noted Maylu's PET laying on the ground a short distance away- the screen was blank, indicating that it had been damaged in the fall. And explaining why Roll hadn't called an ambulance.

"MegaMan, call an-" The Net Op's request died in his throat, as his ears detected a slight moan coming from his friend. Forgetting about getting any trained help, the brunette rushed over to the unconscious Maylu and knelt down beside her.

"Maylu?"

"Lan…" The word came haltingly from the redhead's lips, as her eyes started to flick open. "What happened?"

"In short, the car went haywire and you were on the wrong side of the situation." The brunette replied, "But that's not important, we need to get you to a doctor or something and-"

"I'm fine." Maylu brushed off the suggestion and began getting to her feet. "I'm just a little woozy, but that's nothing to be worried about."

"I'm not worried about the wooziness, I'm worried about the fact that you hit your head like you did."

"I'll be fine." The girl stated with determination. "And I had the strangest dream while I was out of it. I went blind and Roll mastered the Double Soul ability. It was strange…"

"That does… sound like one crazy dream." More than a little bewildered, Lan tried to figure out where this conversation was going and why.

At that moment, Maylu spotted her lifeless PET lying on the ground. "Oh no! Roll!"

The girl rushed past Lan and scooped up the pink Terminal. Maylu desperately tried to get the device restarted, knowing that a damaged PET could mean the end of Roll.

"If you're sure you're all right, we'd better get that to SciLab." The brunette commented.

"I'm all right, it's Roll we need to worry about. Let's go."

"MegaMan, get a hold of Zero and let them know where we're going."

"I'm on it." The Bomber locked onto the signal coming from their friend's PET and hastily dispatched a message to the gray-haired kid and his Net Op.

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"Going somewhere, Sean?"

For a fleeting second, Sean wished that he hadn't left Higsby and struck out on his own.

The gray-haired kid shuddered as he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, forcing him to pause in mid-step. Slowly the hands on his back forced him to turn around to face his captor.

To no surprise, Sean found himself staring up into Gregory's not-so-handsome face.

"We got into a lot of trouble because of you." The stocky teen seethed. "So now I'm going to take you back to Scratch to get him off of my back, and you in a position to where you can't tell your precious hero a thing about us."

"I haven't told Lan or Chaud a thing!" Sean snapped back, not bothering to hide his annoyance at being manhandled like he was. "They don't know anything about the house or Scratch or you. And you know what? I'm actually happy living with him, so leave me alone!"

"Sure, you can say that and appear to mean it." Gregory tightened his grip on his captive. "But deep down, we both know that Lan's just using you to learn about us. Once you open up to him, he'll turn around and dump you back into that foster home… and we both know what that's like-"

"Don't go there!"

"Face it, Sean. You don't have a choice. You've got to come back with me."

"I don't have to do anything you want me to!" The boy glared at the teen. A small plan was forming in his mind, he just needed the right opportunity to put it into action. "Scratch said that I could stay and leave as I wanted. So I'm leaving!"

"That was before you became a threat to us." The stocky teen made his grip even tighter, causing Sean to wince in discomfort. "Things are different now."

"They sure are!" Tired of this pointlessness, Sean snapped his foot back and then let it fly forward- straight into his captor's shin.

As expected, Gregory yelped and released his hold on his captive in pained surprise.

Released from the teen's hold, Sean slipped away and dashed off as fast as he could down the street. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed the suspicion that Gregory was giving chase, the guy wouldn't give up at the first obstacle.

Sean bit his lip in thought as he desperately tried to pump more speed out of his short legs. If he could just get to the Hikari's house, then he's be safe. Surely Gregory wouldn't draw that much attention to himself by tried to force his way inside a house in broad daylight.

Would he?

He'd have to worry about that later, right now all he could do was try.

The gray-haired kid rushed onward, his footsteps rising and falling at a fast tempo. His assailant was just a short distance behind him, and it would take everything Sean had to lose his pursuer.

Skidding around a tight corner, Sean changed direction so abruptly that he almost sent himself tumbling over. Regaining his footing, the boy shot up the side street, putting more distance between him and his pursuer.

Gregory was a stocky teen, who prided himself on his stocky build and formidable strength. He'd never been a track star and trying to keep up with the speedy little Sean was proving to be more of a challenge than he'd like it to be.

The boy gathered his bearings, realizing that he was almost to Lan's house. All he had to do was evade his pursuer for a few more seconds and he'd be safe- he hoped. With Gregory you never knew, he might just break down the door and come charging into the house.

Glancing over his shoulder, Sean realized that the stocky teen had managed to close the gap between them slightly.

Sean sighed slightly as he realized what he had to do- it was risky, but it just might work. He rushed onward for a few more seconds. Then he made his move. Sean's feet snapped out, bringing his dash to a skidding stop. Instantly Sean was spinning around and rushing back the way he had come- towards Gregory.

The move took the stocky teen completely by surprise, and in his surprise he completely missed his chance to grab his prey.

As Gregory struggled to bring his forward run to a halt, he looked over his shoulder to see Sean flying up another side street. The kid was annoyingly clever, the stocky teen was forced to concede that much.

The boy continued to run. He was close, he just had to reach the end of this street and he'd be safe.

Summoning the last amount of strength he had, Sean put on a burst of speed and flew up the street. He hear the stocky teen's footsteps behind him, and his back tingled as if expecting his pursuers hands to latch onto him at any moment.

They never did.

The boy ran up the steps to the Hikari's house and leapt up the steps to the door. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that Gregory was barreling up the sidewalk. As fast as he could, Sean pushed the door open and slipped inside. Quickly he spun around, his foot struck out to kick into the door, forcing it closed. Sean turned the lock… bringing him to safety.

A thud broke through the room. Sean's eyes widened as he realized that Gregory was pounding on the door in an frustrated effort to get inside.

Outside, the stocky teen sent his fist slamming into the door one last time for good measure. He longed to break down the door and charge into the house after that brat- but he knew that that would attract too much unwanted attention. Breaking into any house, even if it weren't the house of a Net Saver, was just plain stupid at this point.

As Gregory turned and stormed down the steps, a familiar figure appeared at the end of the sidewalk. Slim had found him somehow.

"So this is the kid's house," Slim studied the neighborhood and nodded his approval. "Nice place."

"I don't want to hear it." Gregory snapped at his companion.

"I wouldn't be too upset." The thin teen replied, "Now that we've found out where the kid's staying at, we can make him want to come to us instead of forcing him to come with us."

"You want to explain that?"

"I'll explain later," Slim glanced up and down the street. "Right now, we need to get a move on. And we found our other target, when she's not expecting anything, we'll strike and put the plan in motion."

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Sean held his breath as he risked a peak out the window. From his vantage-point the could see Slim and Gregory heading off down the street, he was safe- for the moment.

As soon as he realized that, a flood of fear and anger broke free and coursed through Sean's body. He hadn't had time to actually feel his fear during the chase, and now that he was safe, it was running rampant through his mind.

His limbs quivered as the boy realized just how close he had come to capture. He'd never known anything put a miserable life before the Hikari's had taken him in, and the last thing that he wanted was to go back to that miserable existence.

But was Gregory right? Was Lan just using him to find out about Scratch? The brunette had just taken off and left him there in the car with Higsby. Maybe he really didn't care as much as Lan said he did.

"Lan? Sean?" Haruka's voice preceded her arrival. "Is that you?"

Sean tried to answer, but his voice came out as nothing more than a choked sob.

Mrs. Hikari walked into the room, and stopped short as she spotted the boy. Sean was wreck, he was bruised, maybe hurt, and on the verge of tears.

"Shawn… what happened?" Haruka took another step towards the boy, all of her motherly instincts were kicking in.

"I- he-" The boy's words refused to come out, as he struggled to gain control of himself.

"It's all right, I'm here." The woman stepped forward, and knelt down before the boy. "I'm here for you."

Haruka blinked in surprise as Sean wrapped his arms around her waist, and then the boy dissolved into frightened tiny child who couldn't contain his tears 


	9. Sounds ominous

Begin!

Thanks for your help, Mr. Famous." Lan scooped up Maylu's repaired PET and tossed it over to the redhead.

"It's just Famous!" The adult brunette shook his head in exasperation. "And I was glad to help."

"Lan!" MegaMan shouted from his PET, drawing everyone's attention. "You've got a message!"

The Net Saver unclipped his PET and raised it to look at the screen. "What is it, MegaMan?"

"It's from your Mom. Sean showed up at your house, he's had a run in with those other two guys that he was with before. He's safe at your house, but on the verge of a nervous breakdown. You need to get home, now."

"Right." Lan checked with Maylu and received a nod of approval. "I'm on my way, tell Mom I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

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"I just can't help but worry about him," Missy slipped back into the closest thing she'd ever had to a home. "He's been gone for so long and we have no idea where he is."

"There's nothing you can do," Red, Missy's Navi, answered from her PET. "All we can do is sit tight and wait on Gregory or Slim to find him and bring him back."

"But you know now much Sean dilikes them, he'd never go with them willingly. In fact, I think that they're the ones driving him away."

"I wouldn't be at all surprised," Red shrugged. "but like I keep telling you, there is nothing you can do."

"I can't believe that." The red-head paused and buried her hands in her pockets as she stared down at the ground. "I don't know why I care so much for him… I can't abandon him to whatever random chance may throw his way. I just can't do it."

An unexpected voice entered the conversation. "You don't have to."

Instinctively, Missy's spine tingled and she drew herself to her small height. Looking up, she found Gregory and four other 'tough' teens looming over her.

"You weren't included in this conversation." The red-haired girl glared at the unwelcome newcomers. "So scram."

"You wanted to help Sean; well, here's your chance." Gregory clenched his meaty hand. "We need you to send a message to Sean, one he won't quickly dismiss."

Missy instinctively took several steps back as the stocky teen and his band of thugs closed in on her.

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Higsby groaned as he tumbled out of the taxi and stumbled onto the sidewalk. This entire day had been nothing but one nightmare after another.

And after his 'accident' today, the chip nerd had a sudden, almost inexplicable, hatred of insurance companies and their little 'Net Terrorism' clauses.

But that wasn't the highest thing on his priority list right now. The next thing that he wanted to do was to get indoors; soak in a long, hot bath; and get some sleep. Sleep, that's what he needed, a nice long snooze.

A snooze that he wasn't about to get anytime soon.

As the brunette adult mounted the steps to his apartment, he reflexively reached into his pocket for his key- and realized that he didn't have it. Higsby grumbled over his Shuko-like bad luck under his breath, annoyed as he realized that he must have lost his keys in the near crash.

Which, of course, meant that he wasn't about to get into his apartment anytime soon.

At least, that was what he had thought- until he remembered NumberMan. Jacking his Navi into the Network, the chip nerd instructed his Navi to open the locks and give him access to the house.

No sooner had NumberMan tried to override the computer than he found himself surrounded by a flood of standard Net Police Navis.

One of the NP Navi's stepped forward, identified himself as the commanding officer and placed the calculating Navi under arrest.

NumberMan's blubbered attempts to explain went unheeded.

Outside in the real world, Higsby found himself surrounded by Net Savers as well.

It turned out that someone had been robbing houses in the area, and an anonymous tipster had reported someone trying to break into a house on this block…

All of which added up to one major disaster, Higsby was being mistaken for the burglar, and there wasn't anything he could say to change that.

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Sean closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to block out the images flooding his brain. Every mistake, every goof he had ever made came back to haunt him over the next several moments as he relived his disastrous life. He was a nervous type of person, and cursed with a memory that refused to leave him in piece. He was a doubter, a person who could relieve the events and conversations of days, months, and even years ago- wondering if maybe he had said something different, or taken a different course of action, maybe things would have turned out better. Maybe if he had tried harder, he wouldn't have had to leave the home, or fall prey to those rotten abusers… or get hooked up with Scratch… and then the ultimate thought that plagued him, maybe he could have saved his parents.

He just wanted to curl up and withdraw from the world. To avoid becoming involved with anyone else and most likely screwing up and letting them down again.

"You O.K., Sean?" Lan exploded into his house and immediately found Sean and his Mother sitting on the living room couch.

The gray-haired boy shook his head silently and curled his legs up against his chest and then wrapped his arms around his knees.

Haruka glanced at Lan. Despite her best efforts, Haruka could easily see that Sean wasn't allowing himself to be comforted by anyone, including himself.

Lan, realizing that he'd have to proceed with caution, slowly walked over and sat himself down next to the mute boy.

The two just sat there for several seconds, neither one speaking.

Finally, Lan broke the silence.

"Rough day?" It was a lousy phrase, but the best he could come up with.

Amazingly enough, it broke through Sean's defenses and sparked a response.

"Yeah."

"You know…" Slightly encouraged by those words, Lan decided to proceed with whatever popped into his mind. "Sometimes when I have a bad day, it helps to talk about it."

"I can't talk. I can't say anything." Sean kept eyeballing the carpet. "I can't."

"O.K…" The brunette Net battler shrugged and decided on a better course of action. Reaching into his folder, Lan retrieved a Battle Chip and held it out to Sean. "While I was out, I picked this up for you… I thought it might come in handy."

The gray-haired kid slowly removed his right hand from his knees and accepted the chip. His eyes exploded open in disbelief. "Dream Aura… Level 5? But… I can't…"

"Yes, you can," Lan corrected his companion. "because it's not the chip that's important- it's the connection between us. I'm your friend, I'll always be there for you, and this chip is just a little reminder of that."

"But, I don't have anything to give you." For a brief moment, Sean wished that he had actually gone through with his earlier intent and swiped that North Wind Chip. He still wasn't sure just why he had refrained from strealing the cartridge, but he had. "Now I wish I had-"

Lan blinked as Sean cut himself off. "Wish you had what?"

The gray-haired kid swallowed, and then decided there was no hiding it. "Taken that North Wind you wanted..."

"Sean, you don't have to repay me." Lan replied, completely oblivious to that confession, "I'm your friend, I'll always stand by you, and not because of our gifts to each other."

Even as he stared at the chip in disbelief, Sean couldn't keep himself from thinking… "If only you knew."

"And if you're ever in trouble," Lan mentally held his breath as he spoke his next sentence. "you can come to me and I'll stay with you until we get it worked out."

"You really mean that?"

"I do." Lan nodded back, "That's what friends do. We stick by one another."

Silence descended upon the two, as they sat there for several more seconds. Neither one was quite sure just where to take the conversation from this point.

Sensing that there was nothing more to be gained, Haruka broke into the conversation. "Now that that's settled, why don't you two come in and get some supper?"

Sean's eyes lit up at the word 'supper'. Forgetting about his troubles, Sean scrambled off of the couch and headed for the kitchen table.

"I still can't believe it." Lan shook his head in disbelief. "He's got the biggest appetite I've ever seen."

"Second only to your own." MegaMan quipped.

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"See ya, tomorrow, Sean." Lan propped his arms behind his head and closed his eyes in preparation for the welcome sleep to come.

"'Night, Lan." The gray-haired boy glanced over at his friend who was sprawled out on the floor.

At the brunette's insistence, Lan had camped out on the floor in a palette of blankets and pillows while Sean took the bed.

Sean stared up at the ceiling, his mind a jumble of memories and thoughts. The doubts just wouldn't leave him alone… and he desperately wanted to drop off to sleep so that the memories would leave him alone.

The gray-haired kid didn't know how much time had passed, he just knew that he definitely hadn't slept. For all Sean knew, it could be midnight…

And the time of night might have explained why he was the only one that heard the almost silent sounds that were barely hanging in the air.

Sean blinked, not quite sure what he was hearing.

Then it registered- they were sounds he had known for most of his life.

The gray-haired kid's eyes flew completely open as he recognized that voice. Frantically scrambling out of the blankets, Sean bolted off of the bed, his foot accidentally sliding on the floor and striking Lan's shoulder.

Miraculously, the brunette snapped awake from the blow, and sat up to see his friend exploding out the door and down the hallway.

Wondering what was going on at this time of night, Lan groggily forced himself to his feet to follow the boy.

Sean raced down the stairs and scrambled around the corner. The closer he got to the sounds, the more his hopes faded that he wouldn't find…

"Sean?" Lan's voice drifted down the stairs. "What's up?"

The gray-haired boy didn't answer- he was too focused on the task at hand. He reached the front door and clicked the locks open.

The door flew open…

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"Sean?" Lan reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced around. "Sean, what's wrong?"

It was then that he saw the door standing wide open.

And what he saw on the other side of that door rocked him to his very core.

End Chapter!


	10. Let's build some suspense!

Web: Greetings one and all!

Harry: Took your sweet time getting to this didn't you?

Web: Hey, things have been crazy trying to get Arrowed Met Industries off ofthe ground before I go back to college. Working the bugs out of a new website'll eliminate a lot of my already limited free time.

Harry: Yeah, yeah, yeah...

Web: Watch it, I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!

Harry: Uh... Begin Chapter!

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Sean stared over the mountains of medical equipment at the only friend he had had in his old life. Missy looked so small in that huge bed, and the way all those wires and tubes ran into her was downright frightening.

The sight was enough to make Sean want to cry.

But he couldn't cry- he's used up all his tears earlier that evening at the Hikari's house.

Sean still wasn't sure what to make of this. He'd awakened last night to the almost non-existent groans of pain. After accidentally waking up Lan, the boy had rushed downstairs and opened the door- to find a badly beaten Missy lying on the steps.

His discovery had raised an alarm in the house, and Mrs. Hikari had instantly dialed 911 while Lan and Mr. Hikari had frantically tried to stabilize her.

In the back of his mind, Sean knew what this meant- but he couldn't bring himself to fully believe it.

"You O.K.?"

Sean looked up to see Lan standing over him, and the brunette was offering the boy a paper cup filled with water.

"Yeah." The gray-haired kid took the offered cup and downed its contents. Not bothering to explain anything else, or make any other comments, Sean crushed the cup in his hands and resumed his vigil.

Why did it have to be her? Missy was the only one to ever treat him like a human being… why did they have to pick her?

But Sean knew that that was exactly why she had been chosen- because she would get his attention.

This entire scenario meant only one thing- and Sean didn't want to think about that meaning.

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"And nothing else was touched?" Chaud looked over the technician's shoulder at the computer screen.

"Nothing," The techie shrugged, "Someone hacked into the system, inserted that alarm about someone carrying out a robbery at that… nerd's house, and then left without touching a thing."

"It was embarrassing." The officer behind Chaud coughed nervously, "we arrested the guy for crimes that hadn't been committed."

Chaud nodded as he digested this information. It was all becoming clear now. They had a saying in the Net Police, "Life is real- coincidences aren't." As bizarre as it sounded, Higsby had an enemy, and said enemy was out to make Higsby's life miserable. There wasn't any other explanation for the fact that the nerd's car hijacking and rigged arrest had occurred within hours of each other. A person would have to be blind to miss such a connection- and even then it should have smelled wrong.

"Put someone on Higsby's tail." The double-haired Net Official snapped, "If Higsby really does have an enemy out to get him, then we need to be ready. I want someone shadowing him twenty-four seven."

"Yes sir!" One of the officers saluted and scrambled away to fulfill the order.

"In the meantime, I'm going to go over this entire system and find out just how the intruder hacked our system." Chaud whipped out his PET, snapped on his custom grip, and pointed it at the nearby jack-in terminal. "Jack in, ProtoMan, Power up!"

A burst of red light exploded out of the PET's side and leapt through the air into the computer's system.

With the required burst of red light, ProtoMan dropped to his knees as he landed in the Net Saver's Network and straightened himself to his full height.

He didn't have to go far to find out how their rogue Navi had hacked into the system- the gaping hole of melted flooring was a dead giveaway.

Chaud and ProtoMan looked at each other and said in unison: "FlameMan."

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"I just wish that she'd wake up!" Sean surprised even himself by blurting out the thoughts foremost in his mind.

"Sean," Lan got up off of his chair and walked over to the gray-haired boy standing beside the hospital bed. Upon his arrival, the brunette placed one hand on each of the boy's shoulders and turned the kid so that Sean was looking at him. Dropping to one knee to even the playing field of their height differences, Lan continued his impromptu speech. "I know that you're worried- I was too when I was in your place-"

"How could you know what I'm feeling?" The gray-haired boy snapped back, again surprising himself. It was as if all his pent-up anger and frustration had finally exploded from the dams he had constructed to contain it- and now it was attacking the first available person, Lan. "How could you? I've been abused, used, neglected, tossed out on the street, and trained to be a pick-pocket! I barely remember my real parents, and the only person who ever cared a wit about me is lying here on this hospital bed where she might die. How can you possibly know what I'm feeling?"

Sean rushed on, desperately trying to check the words pouring from his mouth, but it was no use. His long suppressed emotions had freed themselves and there was no stopping them now. "There are times when I would have been better of dead- I would be better off dead since I don't have a future for me. While you've never had to worry about that- you've had everything going for you since day one! And you say that you know how I feel."

Even as he verbally beat Lan, the boy was amazed at Lan's resolve. Although it was obvious that Lan was fighting with everything he had to keep from lashing back at his attacker, the brunette managed to stay silent and resolved as wave after wave of the assault continued.

Finally, Sean wore himself out- his emotions were spent, and he was too tired to say anything else. Emotionally drained, Sean dropped all of his defenses and collapsed against Lan's shoulders.

"I just want her to be O.K." The boy managed to whimper.

Lan stood still supporting Sean- the truth was that he was afraid to let go for fear that the boy would collapse to the floor.

In an extremely rare moment of clarity, Lan realized exactly how the boy felt. "Believe me, I know how you feel about her."

The brunette waited for a reply, but none came.

"A couple years back, my dad was never around. He was always off in some strange country doing research. Most of the time we were fairly well informed about his movements… but once, about three years ago, the plane he was on crashed and there was the possibility that he could have been killed."

Lan paused to catch his breath, and realized that he had Sean's full attention.

"I worried myself sick, and refused to do anything until I knew for sure what had happened. I even set up camp next to the phone… And then, out of the blue, my dad called. Turned out he wasn't even aware that his flight had crashed, he'd just gotten so involved in some last moment discovery that he missed his flight."

Somehow Sean found the strength to look up. "You're making that up."

"It's the truth, ask my Mom." Lan took a breath. "All you can do is stay by her side and be there for her- just like any friend would do."

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"All the data points to FlameMan." ProtoMan finished his analyses of the hole in the Net Saver's Network. "Something burned right through our firewalls and fried the warning system."

"And somehow the direct approach was the most silent." Chaud muttered in reply. "We'll have to document that for future modifications. But judging from recent events, it's fairly certain that FlameMan was the one behind this. Have you run the database yet?"

"Right after the first attack, we don't have any record of such a Navi being made or issued. Which leaves two possibilities."

"He's an illegal issue Navi or he's Asteroid."

"Exactly." ProtoMan cocked his head slightly as he decoded a message that had just arrived for his Net Op. "Chaud, Lan needs you at Den Tech Memorial right away."

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Sean sighed as he continued his vigil; he almost wished that Lan hadn't stepped out of the room for a few moments. Stranding watch with Lan was less than half as stressful than standing watch alone.

"Come on, Missy." Too anxious to stay still, Sean began pacing around in a wide circle. "Don't leave me here alone…"

"SEAN!"

The gray-haired kid's head snapped up, as he recognized that voice. It was the voice of Red, Missy's Net Navi. Looking around, the gray-haired kid spotted the aforementioned Net Navi sitting in a nearby hospital monitor.

"Red!" The boy rushed over to the computer screen, "where have you been?"

"Trying to get here." Red seethed, "Gregory was under orders to keep me locked in that PET until he knew beyond a doubt that you had found… her. Once he let me go, I had to look all over the Net before I found out where Missy was, and then it was a long journey here."

"I see…" Sean replied, "But at least you're here now."

"Sean…" The Navi ducked her head, indicating that she had a task that she really didn't look forward to. "Sean, I have a message for you, from Scratch."

The gray-haired boy's head snapped up. "I don't want anything to do with that jerk."

"He says…" Red pushed on despite the order not to. "that Missy is only the first. He'll punish one kid every day, until you come back to him."

The boy gasped- he had known that this would be coming, but he had refused to let himself believe it. Now he had a choice- a choice that he really didn't want to make.

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"I'm back, Sean." Lan entered the hospital room and stopped short- the gray haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

"He's… gone…"

The brunette looked up to see an unfamiliar Net Navi curled up on the monitor overlooking the unconscious Missy. And it was clear that she wasn't at all happy with something or other.

Suddenly, the Navi straightened and shot a hasty look at Lan. "Don't just stand there! You can still catch him! Sean couldn't have been gone for more than five minutes, there's still a chance you can talk some sense into him!"

Something inside of Lan screamed at him to listen to this Net Navi. Trusting his instincts, the Net Saver ducked back into the hallway and looked around.

Then he saw Sean, the boy was stepping onto an elevator.

Lan broke into a run, determined to find out what the disk drive was going on. One minute the boy was refusing to leave that girl's side, and now he was leaving her.

Even as he raced down the hall, dodging people left and right, Lan knew that it was no use. The doors to the elevator were already closing, and it would take another miracle for him to intercept Sean.

Sean looked out of the elevator as his brunette friend raced towards him. Lan's fingertips were outstretched in an effort to catch the elevator door before it finished closing. But the boy knew that he'd never make it.

Just as the doors slid closed, separating them forever, Sean looked up at Lan and spoke what he fully intended to be their final words. "It was fun, Lan."

Lan hit the door just a split second after it closed.

He slammed his fist into it in frustration.

End Chapter!

Harry: Now dat you've read da fic, hop over to Web's profile and check out his new site: Arrowed Met Industries!


	11. Asteroid Mayhem!

LazerWulf, you have to remember that they fought FlameMan two chapters ago when Higsby's far went haywire. Since a fire Navi invaded the system and framed Higsby, it was a pretty easy guess that Flamey was behind it.

101010101010101001010101

Somewhere in the streets of Den Tech… A silent figure strode through the evening dusk.

Her name was Yuri.

Yuri stopped in front of the entrance to an alleyway. Something didn't feel right here.

It took her a second for her conscious mind to register what her subconscious already knew. Just barely audible sounds were drifting from that alley- the sounds of a sniffling child and a demanding teen-on-the-verge-of-manhood. In short, some little kid was about to get mugged by some teen out to prove himself.

Not if she could help it.

Throwing caution to the winds, Yuri commandingly strode into the alleyway. A dozen steps into the side street, the former Nebula agent spotted the impending crime. A small gray-haired child was sobbing at the feet of a stocky, black-haired teen.

"Now you little- Hey, what?" Stocky Teen looked up to see Yuri rushing him.

Gray Hair scrambled backward, frantically trying to get away from the impending fight.

In the back of her mind, Yuri noticed the child reaching for his PET.

And then a burst of intense light exploded out of the ground a short distance before her. Stunned by the intense outburst of light, the brunette woman slid to a stop and shielded her eyes from the glare.

She already knew that she was in deep trouble- she had seen that kind of lightshow before, and it always announced the arrival of an Asteroid Navi. And without any means of calling a Dimensional Area, she couldn't Cross Fuse to fight it off.

Just as those fleeting thoughts finished crossing her mind, something hard and flat slammed into the side of her head. The impact sent her hurling through the air and crashing into the building lining the right side of the alley. Shocked and stunned from the blow and impact, Yuri sank to the ground and lay still.

Her mind noted the stocky teen stepping over her limp body and saying something to the effect of 'Nice work, Sean' just before the world went black.

10101010101010101010101

"No luck, Lan." Chaud trudged into the briefing room of the Net Saver's HQ and slid into an empty seat next to his brunette partner. "Both of us and half the force have been out looking for him, and we haven't so much as seen a gray hair."

"I don't get it." Lan rubbed his temples with his thumb and index fingers. "Everything was going great, and then 'Mystery Girl' shows up and Sean goes running off on me."

"I think it's safe to assume that Mystery Girl has some connection to Sean's past life." Chaud mumbled, his mind working on a dozen different trains of thought at once. "What about Mystery Girl's Navi, Red? Is she willing to shed any light on the matter?"

"No good, she won't even so much as hint on where Sean could have gone." The brunette shook his head. "Something's spooked her and spooked her good. She's too scared to talk."

"Can't say as I blame her." The duel-haired kid nodded. "Not with her Op lying in the hospital."

"But there has got to be something we can do." Lan fumed, disliking their inability to do anything. "We can't just sit here while Sean's facing who-knows-what."

"Have faith in him, Lan." Chaud stood and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Something tells me that Sean's about to face the biggest battle of his life in the next few days…"

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"Exceptional work."

"Thanks." Gregory dumped his load in the empty storage locker and swung the door closed, locking the locker. "Could have done it without Sean, though."

"But this way was the most certain to succeed." The shadowy form of Scratch glanced over his audience of a dozen or so kids, and then swung his gaze over to rest on Sean. "And it did give Sean a chance to partially redeem himself."

Sean didn't reply, but folded his arms over his chest and waited for the man in the shadows to finish his monologue.

"We're glad to have you back, Sean." Scratch glanced at the gray-haired boy.

Silence.

Finally, Sean decided that it was now or never.

"Good to know you think that." Sean spat the words out at Scratch. "But I'm done playing your game. I'm through working for you. I'm leaving, and I don't care what you think about it."

Even though it was already dim and cold in the abandoned building, Sean was certain the temperature dropped ten degrees and the shadows thickened in anger.

"You are, are you?" The shadowy form glared from his place in the shadows at Sean.

"I am." The gray-haired boy glared back. "Don't pretend that this is about my welfare. This is about control- your control. You know that if I desert, others will realize that they can too, and when they do, that will leave you high and dry. You have to keep everyone here under your thumb, or face the end of your easy life at our expense."

Sean had never thought that a human could move that fast.

One second he had been mouthing off at Scratch, the next he was lying on the ground with a sharp sting radiating from his cheek.

"Insolent pup!" The shadowy figure barked from his place over the fallen boy. "I took you in, I sheltered you, I taught you everything you know, and you threaten to leave me? You should be eternally grateful to me-!"

"You used and abused me for your own personal gain!" Sean shouted back, interrupting his tormentor. "And I've had enough! You claim to extend friendship to us, but I've tasted REAL friendship! I have a friend out there who's probably frantic by now, wondering where I am. And I know that he'll never stop looking for me or turn his back on me."

"You really believe that? He's probably already forgotten you!" Scratch roared back. His right hand flying upwards to strike the child again.

Sean saw the intended blow coming; however, and immediately leapt into action. Gathering his small body beneath him, the gray-haired boy snapped back and rolled out of the way of the slap. As Scratch's hand swished by his face, Sean tucked his feet beneath him and sprang upward, his fist flying into the man's stomach.

Scratch wheezed and stumbled backward several paces.

Even through the shadows, the boy could see the murderous gleam in his tormentor's eyes.

"You… you'll pay for that."

"I don't think so." It was time. The gray-haired boy pulled his PET from his pocket and pulled that forbidden chip from his folder. "I told you that I'm through with you. I warn you, don't try and stop me as I leave."

"And just how do you intend to fight me off?" Scratch took a step forward. "You have no hope of defending yourself against me. Stop now while I still feel some mercy for you."

The boy suddenly became aware that all of the eyes in the room were on him. He could sense it, the fate of this rag-tag band of children and teens depended on him getting out of this crazy place.

"I stand by my warning." Sean raised his PET, and then shielded his Dimensional Chip from view with his hand as he brought it around to his PET's Slot In drive.

"Then you're a fool." Scratch took another step.

"So are you." Sean whipped the disk out into his fingers and raised it high above his head for all to see. Deftly he dropped it to chest level and fed it to his hungry Personal Terminal. "Dimensional Chip in and Download!"

Instantly a bright portal of light exploded out of the floor in front of Sean, forcing everyone to shield their eyes as a red-clad figure materialized in the human world.

Zero had arrived.

The light faded away, revealing Zero standing at the height of a normal human adult, the Dimensional Chip hadn't messed with his height or proportions at all.

"Why, you-!" Scratch exploded out of the shadows at Sean and his protector, fueled by rage and hatred. The wiry adult never knew what hit him.

Zero's right hand transformed into his slivery-green blade. Snapping his arm around, the swordsman backhanded Scratch with the flat of his sword, sending the adult skittering across the floor out of control.

"Get us out of here!" Sean dodged around his Navi's legs and bounded up onto the Hunter's chest.

The swordsman cradled his Net Op with his left arm as he dropped to a crouch. His legs pumped once, propelling them upward and sending them hurling towards the ceiling. Zero hunched his back, shielding Sean from the force of impact as they crashed straight through the roof and up into the next level of the building.

Gregory looked from the barely conscious Scratch to the retreating Sean and Zero. A burning anger exploded out of his face as he whipped his own steel gray PET out of his pocket and slammed an eerily familiar chip into the gate. "I'll kill him! I'll kill him!"

There was an explosion of light as HardMan surfaced in the human world.

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"Lan, we've got to go!" Chaud ducked into the conference room to collect his partner.

"What is it? Something about Sean?" The brunette flew out of his chair and raced towards the doorway.

"You might say that, we've just received reports of Asteroid Navi's in the real world." The duel-haired kid turned and shot up the hallway. "Three of them, and one of them is Zero."

Lan's eyes exploded open in shock.

"Say what-?"

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With a grunt, Zero hurtled the empty space between the buildings and crashed into the roof of the adjacent structure. Risking a glimpse over his shoulder, the swordsman grimaced as he saw that annoying HardMan easily clearing the gap with startling agility for a Navi that blocky.

The Hunter put his focus back on escaping and leapt over to the next building's roof.

"Stay down, Sean." Zero shifted his grip so that the gray-haired boy was shielded behind his back.

"Hard Knuckle!"

As soon as those words his Zero's ears, the Navi reacted on instinct. Removing one hand from Sean, the swordsman summoned his default sword. Whirling around, the Hunter turned to face this new attack; instantly he spotted the metal fist flying at his chest. Snapping his blade back and then cleaving it forward, Zero timed his swipe so that it should have cleaved the offending hand in two.

It did anything but.

Zero's blade crashed into the fist, but instead of cleaving the attack in two, the sword merely rebounded off of the fist.

Zero frantically worked to keep Sean against his chest so that he could take the worst of the blows. As long as the swordsman was between his Net Op and any impact, the boy should be safe.

As the swordsman's arm jerked crazily from the impact, the Hard Knuckle continued on to slam into Zero's side. The force of the blow sent Zero and Sean flying backward through the air- and out over the edge of the roof. The two plummeted through the air at an angle, and crashed into the wall of the opposite building.

Gravity took effect, pulling the two to the ground below.

The swordsman reacted on instinct, righting himself and easily hitting the ground upright.

Thankfully, Zero's instincts had done the saving, since the Hunter was so stunned from the duel impacts that he couldn't have consciously performed those aerobatics. The swordsman dropped to his knees, frantically trying to clear his mind.

"Pitiful." HardMan crashed to the ground a short distance away, his impact sending shock waves through the air.

Gregory stepped out of nearby alleyway, and pointed across the street to the boy and his Navi. "Kill them, HardMan!"

"As you wish." HardMan snapped his arms back as he prepared to unleash a pair of Hard Knuckles on his weakened opponents. The Asteroid Navi snapped his arms forward, sending his fists flying through the air. "Hard Knuckles!"

Zero looked up at the flying fists. He willed himself to dodge and slip away, but his body felt sluggish and refused to respond with the urgency that he himself felt.

"This is it…" Sean stared at the approaching instruments of his death. "I… Zero…"

The Hunter set his mouth and glared at his opponent, it was all he could do.

"PANEL OUT, BATTLE CHIP IN!"

Zero looked down as the ground suddenly vanished out from under his feet. Again gravity seized him in it's grip, but this time it was taking him to safety instead of death.

"WHAT?" HardMan's stoic face broke into a mask of bewilderment as his targets dropped out of sight and his Hard Knuckles slammed into the side of the building without striking said targets.

"Sonic Boom!"

The steely Navi turned to his left, just in time to catch a golden shock wave with his chest.

A growl escaped from Gregory's throat, as he looked back along the path that Sonic Boom had taken to find CF ProtoMan, holding a nasty-looking Variable Sword, and CF MegaMan standing a short distance up the street.

"Sorry," CF MegaMan quipped as he glared at HardMan, "Asteroid Navi's are not permitted in Den Tech without a leash!"

"Hmm…" CF ProtoMan studied his opponent as he lowered his blade.

Behind the two Cross Fusion Rangers, a square portal opened about seven feet above the pavement, allowing Sean and Zero to drop to the ground behind their saviors.

"You guys, O.K.?" The Blue Bomber glanced over his shoulder at the boy and his Navi.

"Yeah." Sean groaned. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." The Blue Cross Fused Navi turned back to face HardMan. "Now, let's take him down!"

END CHAPTER!


	12. A 1500 word fight scene

YurikoOtaku, evil Shun, er, maybe in the next fic?

Begin Chapter

"You ready, Chaud?" CF MegaMan glanced at his partner.

"I am. Let's do it." The Raider nodded back.

Instantly, the two allies shot through the air towards the offending HardMan.

"Super Vulcan, Battle Chip in!" The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger clenched his fist as the orange rotary-gun weapon locked about his wrist. Bringing his weapon up and around to bear at HardMan, the Bomber locked onto his target.

He pulled the trigger.

The gun flared to life, bullet after bullet exploded out of CF MegaMan's rotating barrel and shot through the air towards his opponent. As expected, the steel Navi crossed his arms over his face and braced himself for the coming impact.

"Hard Body!" The Asteroid Navi forced the words out of his clenched teeth. Instantly, his body turned a silvery shade of gray as a special layer of metal slid over every inch of his exposed body. The Super Vulcan bullets collided with his new armor and rebounded off harmlessly, HardMan was escaping the onslaught without a scratch.

"Do you really think that that puny weapon can harm me?" HardMan chuckled as he continued to deflect the bullets.

"No. But just keep up your confidence." CF MegaMan's eyes slid over to check on his partner, and then he abruptly cancelled his attack and vaulted to one side. "Now!"

Stunned by the fact that the onslaught had stopped, HardMan relaxed his posture and stood erect. Abruptly he caught a flash of movement over his shoulder, and whipped around to find CF ProtoMan racing at him.

"Electro Sword, Battle Chip in!" The Red Cross Fusion Ranger clenched his right fist and raised it over his left shoulder as he continued to rush his opponent. A split second later, a blue bar-bell shaped hilt had materialized over his forearm, and a sparking azure blade had slid out of said hilt. The next instant, CF ProtoMan's body had taken on an inverted color scheme as he exploded across the ground and high speed. "C Step, Battle Chip in!"

"So I see." HardMan stared at his new attacker, while bringing his right forearm up to the level of his chest. "Blue boy was a distraction, you are the real threat."

CF ProtoMan didn't reply, he merely slid to a stop in front of the Asteroid Navi and whipped his blade around at lightning speed for the first of his three strike combo.

The sword slammed against HardMan's forearm- and shattered into a thousand pieces.

"What-?" The Red Raider stared at his broken sword in shock.

"Pitiful!" HardMan whipped his left arm back and prepared to send it rocketing into his stunned adversary.

"Yo-Yo! Battle Chip in!"

Before the Asteroid Navi could complete his strike, a bladed Yo-Yo came out of nowhere and circled his wrist in mid-air, effectively wrapping his forearm in its super strong string and stopping his punch. The steel Navi looked down the length of the string, to find CF MegaMan on the other end.

"Chaud! Get out of there!" CF MegaMan hauled back another foot of Yo-Yo line to keep their opponent from completing his attack.

Taking his cue, the Red Raider vaulted backward into a mid-air somersault that carried him out of harm's way. As soon as ProtoMan hit the ground, a new voice assaulted his ears.

HardMan's head snapped around, to find none other than Zero teleporting in to the space in front of him. The swordsman's blade slashed back and forth in two different strikes, landing a scathing blow on the steel Navi's chest each time.

Zero back flipped away, putting several feet between him and his opponent.

"All right!" Sean pumped a fist in the air. "Great move, Zero!"

All three allies gaped in astonishment as they realized that not one of those attacks had penetrated HardMan's armor.

The steel Asteroid Navi lost patience with the way this battle was progressing. Snapping his left arm forward with all his strength, HardMan jerked the Yo-Yo line and CF MegaMan along with it. The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger lost his footing and flew forward, as the force of the pull traveled down the line and into his body. The Blue Bomber sailed through the air, past HardMan, and slammed into the side of a building, digging a crater in its otherwise smooth surface.

"That… hurt..." CF MegaMan panted as he dropped to the ground, stunned.

"Now there's an understatement." MegaMan groaned from his side of the fusion.

"Zero, we have to attack him together!" CF ProtoMan leapt into action, racing across the ground towards his opponent.

Zero nodded his agreement and flew over the ground to run by his red ally's side.

"Neo Variable, Battle Chip in!" CF ProtoMan snapped his arm out to his right, allowing the purple and orange sword to lock onto his forearm.

"Z Saber." The red Asteroid Navi summoned his green sword.

"Step Sword!" The two Net Battlers cried in unison. Zero and ProtoMan exploded forward at extremely high speed- closing in on HardMan.

With a battle cry, CF ProtoMan and Zero streaked up to their opponent and slashed with all their might…

And then everything exploded.

HardMan snapped his arms out to his sides as his two adversaries passed him by. The move caught both of his opponents squarely in the chest, the impact sent them flying away at right angles to their previous course, and into the walls of the buildings on each side of the street.

"Ugh…" CF ProtoMan peeled himself off of the wall and allowed himself to drop to the ground below.

"Chaud, that punch packed a lot more force than you realize. Our energy levels are on the verge of non-existent; a few more hits like that and we'll lose our Cross Fusion."

A short distance away, Lan was facing a similar situation.

"Two or three more hits like that and we'll drop out of Fusion." MegaMan was giving his Op the rundown.

"Great. Then we'll just have to make sure he doesn't get those hits." CF MegaMan hauled himself to his feet. The Blue Bomber looked at his partners and took stock of their situation.

He received a nod of agreement.

"Then here we go!" CF MegaMan thrust his arms over his head as MegaMan activated three of their Battle Chips. "Hi Cannon, Battle Chips in, Triple Download!"

"Cyber Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword, Battle Chips in!" CF ProtoMan mimicked the move by raising his arms skyward and summoning a Program Advance.

The Blue Bomber felt his three chips fuse into a more powerful cannon. The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger dropped his arms to chest level as the massive blue and teal cannon finished materializing. Without hesitation he lined his weapon up with HardMan and pulled the trigger, sending a blast of intense energy rocketing at his opponent.

Likewise, the Red Raider's Program Advance had finished forming as well. With a battle cry, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger brought his arms down, unleashing a powerful wave of energy from his long, blue Life Force Sword.

HardMan glanced from one opponent to the other. The Asteroid Navi didn't even grunt as the waves of power washed over him and detonated in an earth-shattering explosion.

CF MegaMan and CF ProtoMan cancelled their respective weapons and dropped their arms to their sides. Cautiously, they probed the billowing smoke with their eyes, looking for any trace that their opponent had survived.

Slowly the swirling dirt and ash dissipated, revealing the still standing HardMan.

"No way!" The Blue Bomber gaped at their opponent. "He's still standing!"

"But not without cost." The Raider noted the massive scratches and pits in their opponent's frame. "I doubt that he could take another hit like that, but we don't have the power to pull off another PA."

"We don't," The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger glanced at their Asteroid Ally. "Then we'll just have to give him the next best thing."

Zero didn't reply..

"We've got to give it all we've got!" CF ProtoMan shouted to his ally.

"Right." The Blue Bomber straightened his posture and extended his right arm.

The Red Raider mimicked the motion, as they both summoned the exact same Battle Chip in unison.

"Wide Shot, Battle Chip in!"

In perfect synch the two battlers snapped their respective weapons up and around to bear at their adversary. Two twin blue blasts of power exploded out of the weapons and sped through the air at HardMan.

HardMan just anchored himself and stood still, apparently he was too accustomed to deflecting attacks to even consider dodging the Wide Shots.

Zero formed his green blade and snapped it out to his right. Holding his sword parallel to the ground, the Asteroid Navi closed his eyes and concentrated. A glow began to radiate from the weapon as energy from the surrounding area began to flow into the blade under Zero's direction.

The two Wide Shots slammed into HardMan and detonated, sending a mushroom cloud of smoke and ash up into the air.

Zero eyes snapped open at the exact same moment that the radiance from the sword reached its maximum intensity. The next second, the swordsman became a red blur streaking across space and into the dissipating mushroom cloud.

HardMan's facial expression never changed as a red blur shot by his left side, and three long slashes appeared on his chest and torso.

Zero exploded out the other side of the cloud and slid to a stop, his blade still extended from his attack.

"Zeta Saber." The swordsman muttered, deadpan.

The smoke parted just enough for CF MegaMan and CF ProtoMan to see the damage dealt by their Asteroid Ally.

And then another explosion rocked the street, as HardMan met his end.

"That's another one down." The Blue Bomber nodded. "Great work, Zero."

The Red Asteroid Navi merely nodded.

"And that just leaves one loose end that's trying to slip away." CF ProtoMan turned to catch the retreating Gregory with his gaze.

The stocky teen stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Cross Fusion Rangers and Zero.

"Right," CF MegaMan stepped forward, "I'd almost forgotten about him. At the very least, and I mean 'very least', we can nail him for pick pocketing."

"Not to mention a host of other charges." The Raider crossed his arms over his chest.

Gregory glared at the others, CF MegaMan, CF ProtoMan, Zero and Sean. And then for no apparent reason, a grin spread across his face.

"What's he smiling about?" The Blue Bomber stepped forward to stand near the Raider.

Sean was the first to realize that the ground was trembling slightly, and that it was getting noticeably warmer.

"Oh no." The gray haired boy blinked and looked up to shout a warning to his comrades. "Guys, look-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the world exploded into flames.

End Chapter. 


	13. Are we there yet?

Begin Chapter!

"AUGH!"

CF MegaMan hit the wall with a resounding smash, the force of the explosion forcing him to dig a crater in it's otherwise smooth surface.

Likewise, CF ProtoMan was driven into the side of a building opposite the street.

And finally, Zero completed the sequence as he too was blown off of his feet and to the unyielding ground below.

"Ugh…" Lan blinked painfully in an effort to clear his head- and then a blunt pain cascaded through his head as a blue PET Progress bounced off of his head and tumbled down into his lap. "That hurt- Uh oh."

The brunette looked down, and then his jaw dropped in horror as he realized that he was no longer Cross Fused. "Not good!"

Glancing around, the brunette Net Op spotted Zero Logging Out of the human world- evidently he'd done all that he could.

And then something brown and ugly stepped in front of him, cutting off his view of the area. Slowly Lan looked up, to find a giant-sized FlameMan towering over him. "Really not good!"

In excruciating slowness, the oversized Asteroid Navi parted it's huge jaws and prepared to attack.

"Lan, get out of here!"

"My plan exactly!" The brunette scooped up in PET and began a dive for safety, even though he knew that he'd never make it.

"Flame Breath!" FlameMan finished his warm-up and prepared to discharge his attack on the helpless human.

"Aqua Sword, Battle Chip in!"

The fire Navi's attack was lost in a howl of pain, as a tidal wave of water crashed into it. The flood shot past Lan, carrying it's flammable captive down the street.

"Excellent timing, Chaud." Lan glanced over his shoulder to find the aforementioned Cross Fusion Ranger standing behind him. Almost immediately, he wished that he hadn't said those words- for CF ProtoMan was breathing heavily and supporting himself with his Aqua Sword… It was obvious that the Red Raider wouldn't last long.

At that exact moment, FlameMan ripped himself free of the tidal wave. With a resounding crash, he slammed into the ground and reared himself back to his full height in preparation to wipe his opponents off the face of the earth.

CF ProtoMan tensed himself; he would hold out as long as possible… And then he blinked in surprise as his opponent exploded into a shower of pixels and left the human world.

"Why'd he just give up like that?"

"If I knew that, Lan, we'd have this mess taken care of." CF ProtoMan tensed as the Cross Fusion dropped away, separating Net Op from Net Navi. With a gasp of pain, Chaud dropped to his hands and knees ahead of his PET.

"You O.K.?" The brunette rushed over to his partner and dropped to his knees.

"I'm fine, just exhausted." Chaud muttered, panting heavily. "What about Sean?"

"I think he's O.K.," Lan looked up to see the gray-haired kid approaching them. "Yeah, he's good."

"I'm glad one of us is."

1010101010101010101010101010

**SciLab…**

"All diagnostics are green." MegaMan called from his PET. "I didn't suffer from that battle at all."

"Lucky you." Lan rubbed his bruised back and picked up his Personal Terminal from the recharge base.

"ProtoMan checked out fine." Chaud walked into the room with Sean on his heels. "And it looks like Aster- Zero made it as well."

"Great, then we're ready for our next move." The brunette collapsed into a nearby chair. "The question is- what is that move?"

"First, I think that it's time that Sean leveled with us." Chaud also sat on a chair and turned to look at the gray-haired kid. "Who's this Scratch, what exactly are we fighting against, and why?"

Sean looked away, refusing to meet the gaze of his friends.

"Sean…"

The gray-haired boy looked up at Lan, and then took a deep breath. Fingering the Dream Aura chip, the one Lan had given him just days before, in his pocket; Sean nodded and began his explanation.

"It's pretty much what it looks like." The gray-haired kid stared at the floor. "Scratch, we call him that because he's got his monster of a scar running down the side of his face, picks up homeless kids, trains them as thieves and pickpockets and then sends them out to do his dirty work in exchange for room and board- which is almost a joke. If you don't do what he says, then you'll end up like Missy or a lot worse. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if FlameMan showed up to buy Gregory the time he needed to escape just so that Scratch could- you don't want to know."

Lan swallowed, trying to choke back the anger he felt building inside him. "Then it's time to shut him down. Sean, where's this guy's hideout at?"

"I'm sorry, Lan," The gray-haired boy shook his head. "I can't tell you."

"'Can't' or 'won't'?" Chaud shot a look at the boy.

"Both." Sean fired back. "Because if I tell you, you'll go racing in there to arrest him. And knowing Scratch, he wouldn't hesitate to take the kids hostage with FlameMan- something we really don't want to happen. Second, knowing Scratch, he's already got a way to one-up us."

"Sean, you have to trust us." Lan said, "we'll get the others out of there without FlameMan hurting anyone."

"It's not that I don't have confidence in you; I'd just rather not take unnecessary risks- especially ones that could cost lives."

"He does have a point," Chaud placed his hands together in thought. "We can't rush in there, at least not with a pyromaniac Asteroid Navi inside… Maybe there's another way."

101010101010101010101010

"Tamako!" Lan pushed the door open and stepped inside the shop. "You here?"

Silence.

Warily, the brunette took a few footsteps forward, scanning for the slightest hint that Tamako was about to pop out of nowhere and scare him to death.

"Hey, Lan!"

"GYIA!" The brunette whirled around to find Tamako jammed between the door and the ceiling. However, having snapped about so fast, Lan lost his balance and wound up crashing to the floor on his backside.

"Hi." The Net Saver squeaked as his mind and body came to the agreement that his rear end was going to be sore for a few days. "What are you doing up there?"

"Nothing of importance," the raven-haired woman dropped to the floor and straightened herself to her full height. "What brings you here?"

"Net Saver business." Lan hauled himself to his feet. "I need your help."

"I'm listening."

"Have you ever want a business partner?"

1010101010101010101010101010101

"You want me to do WHAT?" Higsby stared at Chaud in complete disbelief.

"Higsby, if this works, you'll be free of your tormentor and there'll be one less Asteroid Navi in the world." Chaud nodded his sincerity.

"But still, you're asking a lot of me." The Chip Nerd was still obviously unconvinced as to this plan's merits.

"No more than others have done," The duel-haired Net Saver replied. "We're not asking you to Cross Fuse and save the world, just go along with our façade for a few days."

"I might consider it…" Higsby shook his head warily, "But are you sure this'll work?"

Several days later.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Lan stared up at the building before him, as the construction crew fit the new sign into it's place above the doorway.

"It will." Chaud nodded, "FlameMan has spent considerable time making Higsby's life difficult. Therefore, it stands to reason that his Net Op holds a grudge against our friendly neighborhood chip nerd, and is using his Asteroid Navi to bear that grudge out. He's bound to show up here sooner or later and attack."

"Still, I have a hard time seeing Higsby and Tamako as business partners." The brunette turned back to studying the structure before him. "Why was this necessary again?"

"Remember the cover story we put out." Chaud noted Sean stepping over to join them. "According to the press, Higsby got himself so far in the red that Tamako had to buy him out and merge their two shops- and if some other unfortunate accident should ruin this fledgling new enterprise, then Higsby would be bankrupt."

"And you expect FlameMan to take the bait, show up here and attack." Sean nodded his approval, "Great idea."

"I have my moments." Chaud replied, deadpan.

Sean shot a look at the duel-haired boy. "Do you ever loosen up?"

"I do." Chaud nodded and walked off, leaving his two partners behind. "But not around gray-haired squirts."

"His sarcastic remarks need help." The gray-haired kid muttered.

"They always have." Lan agreed.

"NOOO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"

"Uh, was that you?" The brunette turned to look at his friend.

"Nope. No earth-shattering scream from me." Sean shook his head. "You?"

"Not me." Lan blinked and then the answer hit him and Sean at the exact same moment.

"That was Higsby!"

1010101010101010101010101

"Hang on, Higsby!" Simultaneously, Lan and Sean rammed their shoulders into the door to the shop, causing it to explode open. Unfortunately, the door proved not to be blocked or locked. When the two boys slammed into it, they quickly lost their balance as it flew open and crashed to the floor.

After untangling their mangled limbs, the two Net Battlers leapt to their feet, ready for anything.

Anything except a kneeling, sobbing Higsby and Tamako busily engaged in a Net Battle with a customer.

"You can't risk that chip!" Higsby was screaming in disbelief. "Not my authenticated autographed Neo Variable 5! Any chip but that!"

"Don't forget." Tamako smirked at her opponent. "You win, you get that Chip; you lose, you have to buy any antique I choose."

"You're on!" The customer nodded in satisfaction. "Jack in, RifleMan, Power Up!"

"NO!" Higsby wailed.

"Jack in, MetalMan, Power Up! Since I'm in a good mood, I'll let you go first."

As they watched the proceedings, Lan and Sean sweat dropped and glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

"You think he'll make it?" Sean nodded his head at the distraught Higsby.

"He'll live." Lan shook his head, mildly surprised that the Chip Nerd hadn't passed out from fright yet. "You know, maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"I'm beginning to wonder about it myself." The gray-haired kid muttered back.

End Chapter!


	14. Will it never end!

Begin Chapter! 

A blast of light lit up the night.

The column of illumination died away, revealing the giant form of Asteroid FlameMan. The giant Navi turned slowly and surveyed the street before him: no one was around. Lifting his head, the fiery Navi spotted his target: Tamako and Higsby's Gift/Chip Shop.

He would follow his master's orders and burn the place to the ground…

And then a loud crackle sounded from above. His attention drawn by this new sound, the Asteroid Navi looked up, to see a Dimensional Area forming around him.

"CROSS FUSION!"

Two twin spheres of light exploded and vanished in seconds, revealing CF MegaMan and CF ProtoMan standing a short distance up the street. It was plain to see that they were going to stop FlameMan at all cost.

"Zero, Dimensional Chip in, Download!"

Another shaft of crimson light exploded out of the ground between the two Cross Fusion Rangers, revealing the normal-sized form of Zero. Without a word, the swordsman snapped out his right arm, summoning his blade.

Sean stepped out of the shadows to join his friends.

"It's over, FlameMan." CF ProtoMan snapped his right forearm up, summoning his default sword.

"Yeah, what he said." CF MegaMan trained his Mega Buster on his opponent.

"That has to be your worst comeback ever." MegaMan groaned from his side of the Fusion.

"Hey, a guy can't be creative all the time." CF MegaMan hissed back, slightly annoyed.

"Neither should he recycle old jokes."

Groaning, the Cross Fused Bomber dropped the argument and turned his attention back to the major problem at hand.

"If you were half as smart as you think you are, you'd realize that I know that this is a trap."

As that new voice split through the air, the two Cross Fusion Rangers and their Asteroid companion stiffened. They'd never heard that voice before, but knew immediately who it belonged to.

"And I assure you that I came prepared." A small spurt of flame appeared on the shoulder of the oversized FlameMan, and illuminated the figure of Scratch.

Scratch was a tall man, probably in his mid-thirties. Amazingly, he was impeccably dressed in a suit, tie, and neatly combed black hair. True to Sean's words, a prominent scar ran down the length of the man's face.

"After all we'd been through, I expected Scratch to be a shaggy hobo, not a businessman." CF MegaMan muttered under his breath. Aloud, he questioned, "So, just what's your real name?"

"My real name is long gone." Scratch glared down at the quartet of allies. "Lost when Higsby left our computer protection company to sell chips in that rambling old structure. The guy was a nerd and clueless, but he knew his job. I could maintain the business end, but I couldn't do Higsby's job... And lost everything because of it."

"Well, that explains some of this mess." CF ProtoMan fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "Evidently Higsby used to be in a partnership with this guy; and when he left, Scratch took the fall."

"Exactly. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to crush you three pests and finish of Higsby. Go, FlameMan!" Scratch bellowed.

"Flame Breath!" The giant Navi parted his jaws and unleashed a blast of flame from his maw.

"Scatter!" The Blue Bomber leapt to the right, throwing himself out of harm's way.

"Wide Shot, Battle Chip in!" The Bomber clenched his fist, transforming it into a short blaster with a wide mouth. Taking aim at the Asteroid Navi, CF MegaMan fired. A burst of power exploded out of his gun barrel and shot through the air at his opponent.

"Aqua Sword, Battle Chip in!" CF ProtoMan sent himself spinning into a back-flip, putting himself just outside of the attack's range. As soon as his blue sword-with-the-water-tank-hilt appeared, the Raider slammed the blade into the ground causing a flood of water to erupt and cascade at his opponent.

Zero vaulted to the left, escaping. With a sweep of his sword he sent a shockwave of energy flying at FlameMan. "Sonic BOOM!"

FlameMan watched as the attacks closed in on him. Abruptly he reared back and slammed his large fists into the ground. In response, three Fire Towers erupted from the fire Navi's hands and moved off to intercept the attacks.

The Asteroid Navi escaped without a scratch.

"Flame Breath!" FlameMan parted his jaws an sent another blast of fire exploding at his opponents.

"Geyser, Battle Chip in!" CG MegaMan shouted as he whipped back his hand and slammed it into the ground. Instantly the chip data activated, sending a column of water into the air before him; directly in the path of the fire attack.

FlameMan's eyes narrowed as his Flame Breath slammed into the tower of water and exploded, shielding his opponents behind a cloud of steam.

And then three explosions tore out of the cloud. CF MegaMan, CF ProtoMan, and Zero shot out of the fog bank and straight at their asteroid adversary.

"Variable Sword, Battle Chip in!" The Red Raider flicked his arm out, calling upon his yellow arrow-shaped blade. With a flick of his sword, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger sent a shockwave of energy tearing at FlameMan.

"Energy Bomb, Battle Chip in!" The Blue Bomber vaulted over FlameMan's head and hit the ground behind the Asteroid Navi. Placing his explosive package on the ground, CF MegaMan leapt away to relative safety.

As he ran forward, Zero held his blade out to his right, allowing the energy from the surrounding area to flow into the sword.

"If this works," CF ProtoMan watched his attack race towards its target. "We'll have this won. The shockwave will knock that oversized cigerrette lighter onto the Energy Bomb, paving the way for Zero to finish him off."

Unfortunately, fate had other ideas.

Showing amazing agility, FlameMan shifted to his left, allowing the Sonic Boom to sweep right by him. Next the giant Navi snapped his right arm about in a backhand slap, catching the Red Raider and sending him flying backward through the air and down the street.

Zero caught his opponent's eye, issuing an unspoken challenge as he raced closer.

FlameMan accepted the dare with a slight rumble.

"Take him out, Zero!" Sean's voice floated through the air.

"With pleasure. Hyper Slash!" Zero's frame exploded into a blur of red motion. He shot across the lot, gunning for his fiery adversary. Tensing his sword arm, the Navi prepared to unleash his blade's fury on FlameMan.

The breath whooshed out of the swordsman's lungs as a giant hand snatched him in it's grip.

Zero's body jarred and screamed in annoyance as his high-speed dash ended with the subtlety of hitting a brick wall.

FlameMan had plucked him out of mid-attack.

"ZERO!"

The swordsman wriggled and twisted, trying to find some slack in his opponent's grip- But it was no use, he couldn't break free.

10101010101010101010101

CF MegaMan blinked and groaned as he struggled to his feet. His breath froze he looked up to see Zero being held in FlameMan's closed hand- and Scratch laughing wildly on his Asteroid Navi's shoulder.

"Hang on, Zero!" The Bomber leapt into motion. His right hand transformed into a steel sword with a light blue glow running along the edge at the same instant that CF MegaMan's color scheme inverted itself. "Aqua Blade, Step Sword, Battle Chips in!"

FlameMan heard the commotion going on behind him. Still clutching Zero, the Asteroid Navi turned to face this new threat.

CF MegaMan shot forward at incredible speed. His target: FlameMan.

And the next thing he knew, the Blue Bomber was swirling around in an unknown void and his back was slamming into something hard and unyielding. CF MegaMan gasped as his inverted color scheme shattered back into it's original blue state- the Step Sword Chip had been broken.

As his wits cleared, the Blue Bomber found out what had happened. The giant FlameMan had snatched him with an open palm and driven him into the side of a nearby building, trapping him between the wall and the Asteroid Navi's hand.

But what really scared Lan and MegaMan was the fact that the fire Navi was beginning to apply pressure. Meaning that he was about to squish them like a bug against the building's wall.

"I've been in tight places before," CF MegaMan panted as he pushed against the giant hand trapping him in an effort to relieve the crushing force. "But this is- Oh, forget it!

The Bomber strained every muscle in his body, but he couldn't even begin to counter FlameMan's strength.

"This isn't working, we're going to have to come up with something else!" CF MegaMan shouted to his Navi half.

"I'm working on it," MegaMan called back, "but it's taking all of our energy just to keep him from crushing us. Whatever we do, it's going to have to be drastic."

1010101010101010101010101

While keeping that annoying blue pest under his palm, Asteroid FlameMan turned his attention back to Zero. The red swordsman was still withering and struggling in a futile attempt to escape his prison.

If the fire Navi could have grinned he would have as he began to apply crushing pressure to the other Asteroid Navi in his fist…

And then a deafening explosion tore into his left hand, the one holding CF MegaMan. Screaming in pained fury, FlameMan dropped Zero and jerked his left hand away from the searing heat.

"And the Program Advance saves our tails again." CF MegaMan muttered as he regained his bearings. By bracing himself and pushing against FlameMan's giant hand with his feet, he had freed his hands. Three Hi Cannons later, and the Blue Bomber had a fully charged Giga Cannon ready to blow his tormentor away.

"Enough of this!" The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger turned to see CF ProtoMan racing up the street.

"Fire, Aqua, Electro, Bamboo Swords, Battle Chips in!" Taking advantage of FlameMan's temporary distraction, the Red Raider closed in on his opponent. Leaping at his adversary's chest, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger clenched his right fist as it transformed into a familiar red blade. "Elemental Sword!"

CF ProtoMan swept by his opponent, lashing out with four different sword attacks. A split second later, the Raider hit the ground behind FlameMan.

The Asteroid Navi groaned in pain, and then collapsed to the ground in defeat. Due to the sudden motion, Scratch was sent tumbling from his Navi's shoulder and crashing to the ground below.

"We did it!" CF MegaMan pumped his right hand as he watched FlameMan whither on the pavement. "We beat him."

"There is never a complete victory, there is never a complete defeat." The trio of allies glanced over to see the wiry Asteroid Navi Op getting to his feet. The Blue Bomber decided that he didn't like the expression on that man's face.

"You three should know that by now, after all you've been through." Scratch grinned- it wasn't a pleasant expression. "I can't defeat you in battle, but that doesn't mean that I can't walk away with some small victory."

"And what 'victory' could you possibly gain at this point?" CF MegaMan demanded.

CF ProtoMan glanced at Asteroid FlameMan out of the corner of his eye. He really didn't like the direction this conversation was going- then it hit him: Scratch was stalling for time with his victory/defeat babble.

"He's trying to distract us!" The Red Raider burst into motion. As he leapt through the air towards his opponent, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger summoned his default weapon and prepared to finish off FlameMan. "We've got to end this now!"

"Huh?" CF MegaMan glanced over his shoulder in confusion.

"You asked what victory I could obtain at this point-" Scratch grinned wickedly. "I can destroy the cause of my problems. Not much, but a small victory nonetheless. FlameMan, attack now!"

With supreme effort, the Asteroid Navi lifted his head and parted his jaws for one final attack.

The Blue Bomber glanced down the fire Navi's line of fire- and his heart stopped. In the battle with FlameMan, they had completely forgotten about Sean. The gray-haired boy was a sitting duck, and right smack dab in FlameMan's sights.

"NO!" CF MegaMan and Zero leapt away from Scratch- each one desperately trying to do the impossible and reach Sean in time to save him.

"FLAME BREATH!" The fire Navi's unleashed one final burst of fire from his maw, and then vanished in a burst of data.

A growl slipped from CF ProtoMan's throat as his sword harmlessly slammed into the concrete.

"SEAN!" Zero poured everything he had into outrunning the fireball, but the back of his mind already knew that it was too late. His Net Op was done for.

The gray-haired child was frozen in fear, eye wide and unblinking as he watched his death approach him.

Ten feet to impact.

CF MegaMan inserted an Area Steal chip in a last-ditch effort to save the boy.

Six feet.

CF ProtoMan turned and began dashing towards Sean- even through there was no physical way he could make it in time.

Three feet.

Zero continued running- it was all he could do.

One foot.

The Blue Bomber reappeared and threw himself at Sean- he had to intercept the fireball. He had no other choice.

Impact.

Cross Fusion MegaMan was exactly one second too late.

"NO!" Zero heard the scream before he realized that it was coming from himself. A few seconds later, he had arrived at his prone, unmoving, Net Op.

The swordsman dropped to his knees by his master's side, his eyes taking in the damage that Sean had suffered. Surely it couldn't he as bad as it looked, his Op was still there- just wounded… he had to be… That was wishful thinking and Zero knew it.

"Zero…"

The Asteroid Navi blinked as he heard his name. The word was barely above a whisper… Yet it had come from Sean. There was still hope.

"Zero…" Again the gray-haired boy struggled to speak and sit up. Instantly his Navi was there, helping him to a somewhat reclining position.

"Don't move him," CF ProtoMan cautioned the others, "it could do more harm than good."

"Zero… I just wanted…" The boy's sentence was broken by a series of coughs, which he let pass before he continued. "you to know… I was proud to… have you as a Navi…"

"It was my honor, Sean." Zero continued to hunch over his Net Op.

"This is yours now…" With trembling hands, the boy plucked a chip from his folder and struggled to lift it to his friend. "Keep it... safe for me..."

The swordsman hurriedly took the chip from Sean's hand. He didn't want his Net Op to strain himself needlessly.

"Bye…" Sean's eyes rolled back as his eyelids closed. His body went limp in Zero's arms.

"No… He can't be…"

"Zero, I'm sorry." CF MegaMan placed his finger against Sean's neck to check his pulse… and shook his head in sorrow. "He's gone…"

"No… NO!" The Asteroid Navi snatched his head in his hands as pain and despair flooded through his being. His beloved Net Op was gone, gone forever… he had failed to protect him, failed in his purpose, failed in his life…

"SEAN!"

The Battle Chip dropped from the red Navi's fingers and plunked to the ground. It had been a Dream Aura, the one that expressed the bond of friendship between Lan and Sean, and now between Zero and Sean… even after Sean had left this world…

End Chapter!


	15. In the end

Zero's head snapped up; cold, bitter fury filling his eyes.

"He's mine." The swordsman leapt to his feet. With a spry jump he flew away from the deceased Sean and the two Cross Fusion Rangers. His jump carried him to the roof of an adjacent building and from there he leapt to the roof of the next building in line.

"What the-!" CF ProtoMan looked up after the retreating Asteroid Navi.

"He's snapped!" CF MegaMan jumped upright. "Watching Sean die has entirely unhinged him, he's going after Scratch!"

"And heaven help the man if Zero catches up to him." The Red Raider muttered.

"Listen, you take care of Sean, and then get to Den Tech Memorial. Pry the location of Scratch's HQ out of Red and then come after me." The Blue Bomber looked upward as twin bursts of flame began pouring out of his boots. "I'll try and track down Zero and keep him from annihilating Scratch. Air Shoes, Battle Chip in!"

"Lan, wait!" CF ProtoMan scrambled after the Blue Cross Fused Navi, but the Bomber was already flying through the air in pursuit of the suddenly renegade Asteroid Navi. "LAN!"

10101010101010101010101010101010

"We're almost out of air time, Lan." The Blue Navi warned his human counterpart.

"I hear you," CF MegaMan kept his gaze locked onto the fleeting glimpse he had of Zero. "Man, he's fast. I don't know if we could keep up with him if this Air Shoes chip gives out."

"We'll find a way, Lan, we always do."

"I know, I just hope we can squirrel out of this mess." The human side of the Cross Fusion sighed. "I really don't want to hurt Zero, but I can't let him kill Scratch- no matter how rotten the guy is."

"We'll worry about that later, right now we've got to worry about the Battle Chip giving out- in three seconds!"

CF MegaMan risked a look backward at his feet. Already the jets on his boots were sputtering and choking as they desperately tried to burn Chip Energy that wasn't there anymore.

The Bomber glanced ahead, Zero was still outdistancing him. Unless he did something drastic fast, they were going to lose the Asteroid Navi.

"Dash, Battle Chip in!"

Instantly, the Blue Cross Fusion Ranger's color scheme inverted itself, signaling the Chip's activation. The Bomber dropped effortlessly to the roof below him and began running and leaping from one structure to the next at amazingly high speeds.

A grin passed over the Bomber's lips as he began catching up to his prey. He would be able to keep with Zero, maybe he had a chance at pulling this off after all.

Slowly his smile faded, what would he do if he caught up to the Navi?

Before he had too much time to ponder that thought, Zero abruptly changed course. The Asteroid Navi dropped over the edge of one of the buildings and down to the alleyway below.

"He's either trying to shake us or he's found what he's looking for." CF MegaMan muttered.

The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger dropped over the edge and maintained his pursuit.

1010101010101010101010101

For the third time that night, a column of light exploded out of the ground. After a few seconds, the light faded away- revealing the formidable form of Asteroid FlameMan.

The fiery Navi glared forward, staring intently at his old foe. Zero was racing right at him, and it was plain to see that the sword-wielding Navi had lost his mind.

FlameMan rumbled a low challenge. It was warning his opponent of his intent to delete him.

"Not today." Zero's yellow eyes narrowed as he continued his headlong attack. "You murdered my Net Op in cold blood. You don't deserve to exist. I am going to destroy you!"

The red and white Navi thrust out his arm, calling his blade into existence. "Prepare to die, murderer!"

FlameMan never stood a chance.

The fiery Asteroid Navi screamed in pained fury as Zero shot by, landing three separate slashes on his chest.

"Hyper Slash," Zero didn't waste an instant, refusing to give his opponent the time he needed to recover from the blow. Snapping about, the out-of-control Navi unleashed a silver shock wave of energy from his sword. "Sonic BOOM!"

FlameMan took the attack full force, and reeled backward as the shock wave detonated. Before he had a chance to right his balance, Zero dropped down from the sky, his sword impaling him from above.

It didn't end there.

The red and white Navi twisted and unleashed another Hyper Slash on the fiery Navi, before leaping upward and dragging his sword along FlameMan from the crown of his foot to the top of his head. At the apex of his leap, the crimson warrior fired off another Sonic Boom and then vaulted backward.

The fire Navi stumbled and faltered, completely overwhelmed by the speed and savageness of the attacks.

"This ends now!" Zero exploded into motion and lashed out at his adversary, and then stopped on the other side of his opponent. Behind the sword-wielding Navi, FlameMan exploded into a cloud of fire and smoke.

****

FlameMan, Data Deleted.

The entire process had taken seconds.

"Beware, 'Scratch'." Zero turned and glared at the dilapidated structure before him. "You're next."

1010101010101010101010101

From his position inside of the condemned building, Scratch looked on Zero's actions in growing horror.

He'd never expected to lose FlameMan. Without his own Asteroid Navi, he didn't have much defense against the Net Savers, his own 'charges', and a certain rampaging Asteroid Navi that was intent on killing him.

Glancing over at the large storage locker on the adjacent wall, the man consoled himself with the fact that he still had a trump card to play against the Net Police and Net Savers… but the card wouldn't mean a thing against Zero. If the Asteroid Navi had truly gone crazy, then there was nothing he could do to save himself. He knew firsthand the power that those Navis packed- and there was next to nothing that could stop them.

And unless he somehow figured out how to Cross Fuse with a Normal Navi in ten point eight seconds, Scratch wouldn't have any protection against the rampaging Zero.

As it turned out, he didn't even have ten seconds. He only had one-

And then the outside wall of his building exploded into a mass of dirt, dust, and falling concrete.

Stunned, Scratch couldn't resist as the force of the explosion lifted him up off of the floor and slammed him into the back wall. The wiry man dropped to the ground in a daze. Even through his fogged brain, the man had enough presence of mind to sense his attacker entering the room through the swirling mist of dust and grime.

His mind reawakening, Scratch looked up to find Zero standing over him. The red and white Navi's sword was drawn and poised above the man's chest.

"You filthy human." Zero stared down at the tormentor he had come to destroy. "You don't deserve to live."

Scratch tried to form a protest to that remark, but found that he was still too winded to speak.

"And I'm going to kill you, just like you killed Sean." The Asteroid Navi thrust his blade downward- intentionally missing the man's side by a half-inch. "And then my Net Op will be avenged."

Zero pulled his sword back and slashed horizontally at Scratch's head. The wiry man slouched even lower, just barely avoiding the attack.

Several of his severed hairs floated downward, to rest on Scratch's chest.

Even as his tormentor lifted his blade to strike again, the doomed man grinned. Despite all of his high talk and suddenly discovered morals, Sean had failed to train the evil out of Zero. For some reason that he couldn't understand the rogue adult took comfort in the fact that he would be slain by a being that was exactly like he was in spirit.

"And now…" The white and red Navi prepared to plunge his sword into the man's chest. "You die."

"ZERO, NO!"

Distracted by the sudden shout, the Asteroid Navi looked over his shoulder to find CF MegaMan entering the room via the blown out wall. The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger held up his hands in a non-threatening manner and retracted his mouth-guard.

"Zero, you can't do this." The Bomber said.

"Stay out of this, MegaMan." Zero looked back to his terrified prey. "This piece of trash is mine. I must avenge Sean."

"If you do this, then you'll have failed Sean." CF MegaMan took a slow step forward. "This isn't the route that Sean would want you to take."

"And how would you know?" The red Navi kept his eyes trained on Scratch, who was still pinned beneath the Asteroid Navi's feet. "How would you know what he would want! Sean's dead- and this man killed him. Now he must die. It is justice."

CF MegaMan frantically tried to come up with a reply, a way to talk Zero down, anything to keep him from thrusting that sword into Scratch.

"Admit it, MegaMan, I'm right, and you know it." Zero hauled back his sword to finish his task. "He dies- now!"

"Zero, wait!"

The Asteroid Navi took one quick look over his shoulder- and froze as he found Lan standing behind him with CF MegaMan nowhere to be found.

"Is this what Sean would want?" The brunette Net Op took another step forward. Somehow, he knew that if he ever wanted Zero to listen to the voice of reason, then he had to appeal to Zero as a human friend of Sean's and not a Cross Fused Net Saver. "Would Sean really want you to kill Scratch?"

"This is not about what Sean would want." Zero replied, with just a hint of uncertainty in his eyes and voice. "This is about vengeance."

"Vengeance for who?" Lan spoke. "For Sean or for yourself…? If Sean wanted Scratch dead, then he could have set you loose on him back when you escaped. But he didn't, instead he just had you get him to safety. Does that tell you that Sean wants this man dead?"

"Things are different now." The Asteroid Navi snapped back. "Sean's dead…"

"I know." The brunette nodded slowly, fighting to keep the tears out of his eyes. His grief was raw and still painful, but he had to keep it at bay for the moment. "And I miss him, I miss him terribly… But we can still honor him for what he was- a courageous boy, my friend, who pulled himself out of this place and rose above it. And he pulled you out too, are you going to throw that all away and sink back to this… this monster's level? Would you be honoring Sean's name or tarnishing it by killing Scratch?"

"I…" Zero stuttered uneasily. Deep down, he knew that Lan was right. Killing Scratch would do nothing but harm Sean's memory. This was not the course of action that his Net Op would have taken.

"Please, Zero, I'm asking you as Sean friend… Don't do this…"

The red Navi looked down, down at Scratch. The wiry man was still grinning wildly, and for a split second, the sword-wielding Navi saw a glimpse of himself in Scratch. The adult would gladly kill his enemies or those who he thought had wronged him… No… no, he wouldn't become a monster like his man who had killed his Net Op. To do so would have destroy Sean if he were still alive...

"I won't." Zero lowered his blade to his side. "I won't."

The swordsman took a step back and deactivated his blade.

Scratch scrambled to a sitting position and looked strangely smug. Almost as if he had expected Zero to back off.

Lan breathed a sigh of relief… and then gasped in horror.

One instant Scratch had been lying prostrate on the floor, and the next he was standing beside the large, gray locker sitting against the back wall. With a sadistic smile plastered on his face, the wiry adult snapped the container open to reveal it's contents.

Zero and Lan gaped in open astonishment.

Bound and gagged in the locker was none other that Yuri.

"Thanks for saving my life." Scratch hauled the dazed Yuri out of the locker and held her between himself and Lan and Zero. The next second, the adult had plucked a pistol from his pocket, which he promptly waved at his captive.

"What the-" Lan stared at the fugitive in disbelief.

"Surely the dearly departed Sean told you that I have this habit of changing the rules at any given moment." Scratch kept his weapon trained at his captive. "I'm going to leave, and you're going to let me. If you don't, then Yuri suffers the same fate as Sean- she dies."

The brunette Net Op growled in frustration as he took stock of the situation. Even if he was Cross Fused, there was no way he could cross the distance between himself and Scratch before the wiry adult could pull the trigger.

"Let her go, Scratch." The boy clenched his fists, trying to restrain his anger. "You owe me for saving your life."

"That I do, which is exactly why I didn't take you hostage." Scratch grinned savagely.

Zero's eyes narrowed into barely existent slits as he assessed the situation. He would not allow this monster to escape.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" The adult began backing towards the doorway, dragging Yuri with him.

Lan's eyes flicked up to meet Yuri's. The instant that their gaze met, he knew exactly what was going to happen, and he was prepared to act on it.

"Zero, get ready to go in" The brunette whispered.

Yuri's eyes flashed, and then she struck. With amazing agility she snapped her torso forward, and then pivoting on one leg she lashed out with her other. Her boot slammed into Scratch's stomach, knocking him off balance and driving him backward, away from her.

"Zero, now!"

The Asteroid Navi exploded into motion, moving so fast that he became nothing more than a trail of after-images.

Scratch brought his gun up to bear at Yuri; as he fell, his fingers reflexively tightened around the trigger.

A deafening roar resounded as the bullet tore out of the gun barrel and began it's course- straight into Yuri's heart.

And then a bolt of fury intervened.

Zero materialized out of nowhere, his sword extended and directly in the path of the bullet. The slug of metal slammed into the blade and ricocheted back along it's original path to slam into the wall behind Scratch- missing his head by a hair's breath.

"I said that I wouldn't kill you." Zero pointed his sword at Scratch. "But if I were you, I wouldn't tempt me."

101010101010101010101010101010

SciLab, Two weeks later.

"Are you sure about this, Zero?" Lan looked from his father and Chaud to the computer monitor before him.

"Yes." The swordsman nodded. "With Sean… gone… I have no Net Op, no purpose. Therefore, I must make my own purpose. And to do that, I must strike out on my own, lending assistance wherever it is needed."

The brunette nodded his understanding. "Sean would be proud of you."

"I shall do my best to keep it that way." The red and white Navi nodded.

"Before you leave," Dr. Hikari stepped forward, and shoved one a disk into the computer. "I have a gift for you."

Zero allowed himself the liberty of raising one eyebrow as a rush of energy gathered in the space before him and transformed into the strangest creature he had ever seen. The being was no taller than half way up to his knee, vaguely humanoid, and wore a dark blue jumpsuit on it's arms and legs. A mess of black hair framed it's blue-eyed, childish face; and two wire-like wings flew out of it's back.

"This is a little guy we call 'MERGE'," Yuuichiaro explained, "short for Medical Emergency Response Generating Entity. Since you won't have a PET to house and repair you, Merge will fill that role by keeping you in good repair and health."

"He's a Cyber Elf, it's like a digital PET without the Net Op." Chaud picked up the explanation. "Because you'll need something to keep you patched together."

Zero nodded and glanced at the creature. Which winked at him and rushed to his side.

"Hello," Merge grinned impishly. "You must be Mr. Zero, Merge will take good care of you! Merge will stay with Mr. Zero and keep Mr. Zero functioning."

Lan was certain that if Zero had an eye-rolling ability, he would have used it. As it was, it took everything that the brunette had to keep from laughing at the site of the giddy Merge clinging to the stoic Zero.

"I'm sure you will prove… useful." The Asteroid Navi muttered, before looking back at the trio of humans. "Thank you for trusting me enough to allow me to do this. I will not forget you."

"Stay safe, Zero," Lan replied. "and good luck."

The Asteroid Navi nodded, then turned his back on the view screen. As soon as his golden hair had fallen into place, the red Navi glanced at Merge and then the two vanished in a burst of pixilated light.

"For you Sean." The Navi muttered.

**_Zero Logging Out._**

THE END


End file.
